I really loved being able to gain some insight into Jackie's life during her time as a new graduate. I find the Kennedy family very interesting so I enjoyed being able to read this book. Would definitely recommend!

I have quite a collection of books on the Kennedy family and have read several books on Jackie. This is another great take in a mysterious women who was so very visible yet so very private. I enjoyed this book!

Really enjoyed this biography of Jackie Kennedy's early years as a reporter with lots of fascinating anecdotes. I wrote up a feature for DailyMail.com which you can find here https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12033429/Jackie-Kennedy-warned-JFKs-cheating-marriage-new-book-reveals.html

Camera Girl

This story was well written and informative, about Jackie's timeline to her wedding to Jack.

This biography focuses on Jacqueline Bouvier's life from her year in Paris as an undergraduate to her marriage to John F. Kennedy. Despite her beauty and privileged circumstances, Jackie struggled to find the career she yearned for, rebelling against both social expectations and her mother's demands (complicated by being in a sort of tug-of-war between her feuding parents). Each time she achieved a goal, her mother would balk and force her back in her place as a socialite who could hope for nothing more than an advantageous marriage.

Impeccably researched, this biography is a fascinating read. Having worked on the papers of a prominent mid-century Democrat, I found reading about Jackie's contemporaries from a different perspective fascinating. #CameraGirl #NetGalley

So remarkable! What a treat during this spring weather to step into this rarified world, the pace as breathy as her voice, a sense of magic to it. I'll read this again. It's the kind of book that draws you through eagerly upon first pass, and the next pass is the savoring.

The author focuses on the years 1949 to 1953, beginning with her arrival in Paris with a new Leica camera for a junior year at Smith College’s study-abroad program. Jackie longed for independence from her “privileged, but also traumatic” the bitter divorce of her parents. It left her determined to resist getting married herself. In her. Sophomore year she wanted to study in France. When she was studying at Vassar, she happened to see a hallway bulletin-board flyer about Smith College’s program to study for a year at the Sorbonne (in France). It was rare for a non-Smith student was allowed to be allowed to go. She studied two extra french classes getting into the Smith’s transfer program. Jackie became the Washington Times-Herald’s “Inquiring Camera Girl..” Her articles were written by asking the questions she posed to people on the streets of Washington, DC, The book ends with her much-publicized marriage to Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy.

It is a terrific biography of Jackie that covers her life from 1949 to 1953. It showed me another Jackie that I never knew. She was smart, knowledgeable and trying to find the woman she would become. I loved reading it a discovering what Jackie was like in her twenties. This is a book not to missed by anyone who liked Jackie Kennedy and by anyone who is curious to find out what she was all about.

I always enjoy coming-of-age stories, and this one was extra special, as its "main character" is none other than Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy! I loved reading about this specific time period in Jackie's life, especially because it isn't usually given as much attention compared to other aspects of her life. It was so fascinating to read about her college years, the time she spent abroad in Paris, and her early career as a writer, reporter, and photographer. The writing style was also very immersive and engaging—I could really picture all of the different settings and moments that the author describes. Overall, this was a wonderful book and I learned so much from reading it! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I read anything about Jackie O.
She lived most of her life in front of the cameras while she preferred to be behind them.
Anthony focuses on Jackie’s life in the 1940s and early 50s, a time that had been often glossed over.
I didn’t find any new startling facts but I enjoyed the photos included, some which have just surfaced recently.
Although she died 29 years ago, her impact and fame have not been diluted.

Camera Girl is very interesting reveal about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy's life before marriage to JFK. It is 396 pages in Kindle format, and about 2/3 are actually the story and the remaining 1/3 are notes, bibliography, and sources. So, the book is shorter than I expected. I am often so surprised to learn so much about someone so public and yet so private at the same time. This is a wonderful look into the hidden side of Jackie Kennedy.

When we remember Jacqueline Kennedy, it is more about her life in the White House and after. Little about her life before marriage or even the White House was known to me. I found this to be an interesting and very enjoyable book as I learned that she was so much more than what we were allowed to see.

Jackie was someone who appeared to be mysterious, calm, and glamorous. She had a whispery soft-spoken voice that belied the stronger woman she actually was.

Jackie had a very dysfunctional childhood but at the same time very privileged. Her father Black Jack Bouvier was a hard drinking womanizer that lost a lot of money during the Stack Market Crash. Jackie loved her father very much and learned a lot from him. Her mother was a socially aware woman and married for money for the status she loved. She made Jackie miserable from her constant critiquing about her appearance, the importance of marrying well, as well as her hatred of Black Jack.

Jackie loved to take pictures from all angles not wanting to miss anything about the subject. She wanted the Leica camera which was very expensive at the time so she could take it with her for her year abroad in Paris. Jackie could be very calculating as she played her parents against one another, however this is not uncommon is divorced families.

One of the things I found interesting, was Black Jack's comment to her that all men, including himself, are rats, prone to stray. This may have prepared her for her life with JFK, but it was also the way many men have been through time in Elite Society (and some in present day.)

Jackie was extremely intelligent and hid it from most people since it wasn't the thing to be at that time. She was an amazing woman, who did not want to witness history but make it, and she did.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an unbiased review.

This is an autobiography about Jacqueline Bouvier and eventually Kennedy’s beginning years as a young adult. From the end of her sophomore year at Vassar to her engagement to the second and final John, John Kennedy. Most of the book it’s about her wanting to be a reporter or something she did initially as a junior reporter for vogue and eventually with the help of her stepfather and a Mr. Waldrop she would achieve. It also covers her strained relationship with her mother Janet Leigh and her possible codependency with her father blackjack her relationship with her stepfather Aussie and so much more from her love horses have European holidays time at the Hamptons a trip to Florida and so much more from eyewitness accounts to family friends to newspaper articles and even personal statements from historians this book is chock-full of personal tidbits that build a great story about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy‘s young adulthood there’s even the love affair with the first John that didn’t have much to do about Love from her point of you at all. It all makes for a great and interesting book by someone who is definitely an expert when it comes to first ladies in the Kennedys mister Anthony has covered many first ladies and has written many great autobiographies on people who we all know his household names as his name should be. He is a great writer of nonfiction including this five star read Camera Girl about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy and her insecurities loves friendships family relations and so much more. This is truly an extraordinary book I have read a few books about Mrs. Kennedy and I must say this book would fit in with the rest that describe her personality I can’t say how much I love this book it was a fabulous book and a confusing time for most Mr. Anthony definitely portrays Jackie’s insecurities and dreams in the culmination of most of them in this book. I received this book from NetGalley and gallery books but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I know a lot about the Kennedys from years of reading books about them, but besides the historical fiction novels #ARCReview: Jackie’s Paris (The Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Collection #1) and And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, I hadn’t really explored Jacqueline Kennedy’s life before she became a Kennedy. The historical novels were a good start, but the real story is just as interesting as any fiction book.

Jacqueline Bouvier was born to a philandering stockbroker and a woman who cared more about how one appeared to everyone else rather than how good of a human being they were. Jackie was the oldest of two children the couple had, but they eventually divorced and did all the manipulative things divorced parents sometimes do in order to curry favor with their kids. It really is amazing how well Jacqueline turned out considering how toxic both her parents were.

Bouvier’s mother, Janet, remarried a very rich man and along with him came step and half-siblings. Jackie became very close with her step-brother Yusha and many of the recollections in this book are taken from letters written to and from Yusha to Jackie or Jackie to him. I always find it amazing that letters of famous people written years prior still survive. I can’t say I saved any letters from my husband during the time we were dating and lived in different cities, although I know he kept mine, so maybe it’s a generational thing. There are plenty of letters to and from other people in Jackie’s orbit during her years before he became Mrs. John F. Kennedy.

Much time was spent discussing Jacqueline’s two trips to Europe, one as an exchange student to the Sorbonne and the other as a graduation gift to her younger sister, Lee, where she acted as a guide because she was so familiar with the places they visited. She had grand plans of making a life for herself in Paris after she graduated college, and entered a magazine contest which would send her back to France if she won. Well, she did win, but her manipulative parents kept her from going.

Instead, Jacqueline got herself a job at a Washington, D.C. daily paper as the Inquiring Camera Girl, going out on the streets and interviewing people by asking any questions that popped into her head. A study of the daily questions revealed that Jackie was having an internal debate regarding being a working woman, which is what she wanted, or succumbing to society’s norms and marrying and having children, which she also wanted, just not as much. She interviewed men and women from all classes, including Senators and Congressmen. It was while Jackie had this job that she met another former journalist and now Congressman John Kennedy of Massachusetts.

I thought this book did a great job telling Jackie’s life as a young adult and her courtship with JFK. The fact that there’s so much source material in terms of letters to and from Jacqueline, as well as her various articles she wrote before hanging up her journalist hat when she married Kennedy, all added to the overall story arc of how these experiences formed a basis for how she lived her life during and after the White House.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I loved reading about this time in Jackie’s life. The author clearly did an abundant amount of research for this book. The way it was written made me be able to really imagine the times and settings he describes. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. *3.5 stars*

Camera Girl gives a fabulous opportunity to meet a young college girl named Jacqueline Bouvier. Her family is well to do, her parents are not overly romantic. She is a daddy’s girl and very close to her sister, Lee whose real name is Caroline.

Camera Girl covers four years (1949-1953) when Jackie was a college honors student working for newspapers taking photos of people on the street and conversing with them.

Camera Girl provides wonderful insight into the Bouvier family as well as her sibling relationship which lasted throughout both their lives.

I really enjoyed learning who Jackie was before the Kennedy years.

Over the years, I have read numerous books about the life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis but this is by far the most detailed one describing her college life, travels abroad, working as the Inquiring Camera Girl for the Washington Times Herald, her courtship and subsequent marriage to John F. Kennedy. All of the material in this book was new to me and it gave me a totally different picture of young Jacqueline Bouvier. I think the author did a superb job chronicling these facts and information into this wonderful book.

Thank you NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC of this wonderful book that I highly recommend to everyone who has enjoyed reading about the Kennedys.

The story of how Jackie's love of photography and writing led her to her career as well as being able to travel so much until she met Jack.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jackie before she became Mrs. Kennedy. Camera Girls gives an insight into Jackie’s home life and her stern, somewhat abusive mother. Reading some of 5he incidents makes me winder if her mother weren’t jealous of Jackie. The relationship that begins in the end of the book between Jack Kennedy and Jackie is not a typical love affair, but a mutual relationship built on purpose.

Think Jacqueline Kennedy. What do you see in your mind's eye? Someone somehow distant but cool, calm, and always in control? Soft-spoken? A cultural icon of the news photos? Someone, oh, so stylish and classy? A woman who could graciously rub shoulders with the movers and shakers of the world, speak French to Charles de Gaulle, effortlessly jump horses across tall fences, wrangle her children without losing patience, pose for countless photos, and give us a televised tour of the White House ... all without a hair being out of place? A woman with the inner strength to stand beside the new president being sworn in while still clad in the pink outfit stained with her assassinated husband's blood?

Jacqueline Kennedy was all that and more. As noted as the book begins, people often forget she was her own person, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, before she was Mrs. Kennedy or Mrs. Onassis. This book is the story of Jackie Bouvier. Far from being soft-spoken, she was, well, probably considered troublesome by many. Although born to money, the family lost huge amounts of its fortune during the Stock Market Crash and while able to hobnob in upper society, the money wasn't always there for idle expenses, like the Leica camera young Jackie so desperately wanted for her year of study in Paris. It was interesting to see the calculating side of her as she worked both parents to eventually get that camera. Frequently at odds with her mother, Janet, who was often volatile, which Jackie seems to have given right back at her, she adored her father. Interestingly enough, his comment to her that all men, including himself, are rats, prone to stray, may have both prepared and colored her own expectations of love and fidelity. Black Jack, as her father was called, also blamed Joseph P. Kennedy for much of their financial problems. We know the Kennedy family's connection, but it's interesting to read names like Nixon, Eisenhower, not to mention events such as Jackie's own first tour of the White House in 1941 with her mother. Her impression that it lacked the proper historical furnishings obviously stuck, huh?

This book, while revealing much of the both youthful hope and dreams of Jackie, also shows an ability to be calculating. Extremely intelligent, in the top of her class most years even while frequently having clashes with administrators, often for smoking, she pretty much developed her own style for her first job as Camera Girl", coming up with her own questions and approaching different classes of people for answers. As many know, one of her subjects was a young Jack Kennedy. You'll also learn how Jackie, who became such a protective mother, crossed the line a few times with political types, including the likes of the then very young Nixon children.

This brief mentions only touch the surface of the real Jackie Bouvier, not to mention takes us along her not-so-smooth-road to becoming Jackie Kennedy. It's a fascinating journey. Her interest in being a writer is explored, a sign of her post-Onassis career. I highly recommend it to anyone with not just an interest in Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy herself but history and politics. Heavily researched and referenced, the author has done an excellent job of showing us not just the human involved in the events but their place in history. Although I feared it might be a dry read, it was easy reading as we watched Jackie Bouvier come of age and step into the history books.

Thank you #NetGallery and #GalleryBooks for allowing me this sneak peek into a woman I've often admired, albeit occasionally through bewildered eyes. This book goes a long way toward expelling my bewilderment.

Having carried surnames such as 'Kennedy' and 'Onassis', very often Jaqueline Bouvier gets overlooked. In 'Camera Girl', we get a close look at the life of Jaqueline as a young woman.

Well-researched and well-written, this book delivers an intimate account of Jaqueline's college years (including her year abroad in Paris) through her wedding to John F. Kennedy. I haven't read too much on her but I've been an admirer of hers from what little I did know, but this book has made me admire her even more.

The writing was engaging and personal without treading into scandalous topics like so many biographies like to do. It was personable and informative. An all around lovely read complete with notes and sources.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with a free digital ARC to read and review!

Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy by Carl Sferrazza Anthony is a wonderful nonfiction and biographical account of the young adulthood of one of my favorite women in history.

I have read so many biographies of Mrs. Kennedy, as well as the Kennedy family in general, and while I knew quite a bit about her adolescence and young adult years, I was hoping to learn more. I definitely did.

The author has done a stunning amount of research and has presented this biography in such a beautiful way, that I felt as if I was part of the conversation between friends…as if I knew her personally.

I loved learning about her college and Paris years…I loved all the extra facets that were highlighted that I didn’t quite see all of before.

I am so glad I was able to read this gem and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Gallery Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 5/2/23.