''The Cheerleader'' is a 1973

coming of age novel In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

Ruth Doan MacDougall Ruth Doan MacDougall, born near Laconia, New Hampshire Laconia ( ) is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap ...

. Described on the author's website as "searchingly honest, achingly real, ecallingall the joy, excitement, and pain of crossing the bridge from childhood to young womanhood in the Fabulous Fifties, when sex was still a mystery and goals were clearly defined--perhaps for the last time," it was first published in 1973 by Putnam and re-released in its 4th printing in 1998 by Frigate Books. This is the first of five books in the "Snowy Series" ("Snowy: a sequel to The Cheerleader," "Henrietta Snow," "The Husband Bench, or Bev's Book," and "A Born Maniac, or Puddles Progress") following Snowy and "The Gang" as they continue through life.

References

1974 American novels American bildungsromans {{1970s-bildungsroman-stub