Brooke Hauser

Enter Helen by Brooke Hauser is a biography of Helen Gurley Brown, best known as the author of Sex and the Single Girl and as the editor who created a new identity for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1964 and made it the “must-read” magazine for young women for decades.

I grew up during the 1960’s and 70’s and remember faithfully buying my copy of Cosmo. Helen Gurley Brown appeared to have her finger on the pulse of young North American women as she wrote about the changing times for women. show more From sex tips to career options, Cosmopolitan Magazine told us what to wear, how to look, where to travel and what to read and see. This was the first magazine to cater to young, single women and acknowledge the fun things we were able to do in comparison to magazines like Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping which was aimed at stay-at-home wives and mothers. “Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere, “ she declared.

Helen comes across very much as a woman who learned how to make the very best of herself. Ambitious and strong willed, she took control of her editorship and rose to become a cultural icon. She was strongly supported by her film producer husband, David Brown. They worked together as a team. Enter Helen is both a great look back at this time and a well researched portrait of an influential woman who encouraged single women to strike out and pursue their own interests. A highly entertaining read for anyone who remembers or wants to learn about this era. show less

In the tradition of Freedman's SMALL VICTORIES and Kidder's AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN, this is a compelling true story of a small high school, International High School in Brooklyn, where teachers go the extra mile to validate, support, cajole, motivate, and teach students who have come to New York City with little or no ability to speak or read English. From a wealthy Chinese girl who arrives in New York only to discover that her stepmother won't let her live with them to the boy who show more mysteriously travels from Sierra Leone to Connecticut (then disappears during lunch at Macy's) to the social worker who does everything from host prom dress giveaways to gossip over lunch, this is a compelling tale of what it means to teach with heart ... and with results. Take a break from the hard-hammering headlines of ineffective teachers and standardized test scores and be reminded of the nobility of dedicated teaching -- and learning. Highly recommended. (162) show less

Listened to from Aug 15, 2012 to Aug 26, 2012

Audio Review - First...the audio was a little tricky to follow at first because there are so many names, but it's still a really fascinating look at one year at the International High School @ Prospect Heights. I believe Hauser followed students and teachers from 2008-2009 and since then, several classes have left the IHS. I'd love to find out what happened to the students since. Where's Yasmeen? Is she still in school? Is Jessica still trying to show more just be friends with Harold? Did Mohammed graduate and go to college? How's Anne Perry's baby? Is her former student now her nanny? So many questions, but still this is a great book full of insight into the lives of immigrant teens. show less

As a biography of Helen Gurley Brown, I preferred Jennifer Scanlon's Bad Girls Go Everywhere. Enter Helen skips around chronologically, beginning with her meeting and marrying David Brown in 1958-1959, then in chapter 22, suddenly going back to Helen's childhood and teenage years in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the chapters about the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s are interesting reading, but don't even have anything about Helen in them. I was interested in a show more new biography of Helen, but didn't enjoy Enter Helen as much as I thought I might. show less