“Girls: Ordinary Girls and Their Extraordinary Pursuits” is a radiant collection of original photographs and life stories by Jenny, Laura and Martha McPhee, sisters who know a great deal about being girls (they were raised in the ’60s and ’70s, at the height of the women’s movement) and about being around other girls (there were five sisters in the family, not to mention a mom, a stepmom and four stepsisters) and who are now raising girls of their own. But what is it like to be a girl in America today? What constitutes a normal girl’s experiences? How do girls talk about themselves and define themselves? How do they set themselves apart and how do they fit in? These are the questions the McPhees asked on their cross-country odyssey, which spanned more than two years. “Girls” is a thought-provoking look at the answers they found.

“Girls” introduces us to extraordinary girls pursuing their passions and “normal” girls discovering creative ways to define themselves. We meet young poets, novelists, musicians, unicyclists, football players, philanthropists, activists and chess players. Beautifully written by novelists Jenny and Martha McPhee and illustrated with the black-and-white images of award-winning photographer Laura McPhee, “Girls” reveals the astonishing scope of girls’ lives today, and indicates the spirit, energy and determination with which the women of tomorrow will fashion the future.

Listen to this recording of Jenny, Laura and Martha McPhee reading from “Girls.”

In her first novel, Bright Angel Time (Harcourt Brace), Martha McPhee captures the era when women’s liberation mixed with notions of free love led to sexual license, and Gestalt therapy promised enlightenment. Seen through the eyes of eight-year-old Kate and her two sisters, this is not so much a time of freedom as one of confusion, adult carelessness, and neglect. Kate’s steely-eyed view of her parents’ world, combined with McPhee’s brilliant imagery and deft characterization, makes this ’70s-era tale a book for the ’90s.