"The Girls from Ames" is a group of women from Ames, Iowa who were the subject of Jeffrey Zaslow's 2009 nonfiction bestseller about lifelong friendships. In the book, Zaslow chronicled eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames. After college, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child’s illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group. The women are now in their mid-forties. Jenny Litchman is currently assistant dean at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Kelly Zwagerman and Sally Hamilton are teachers in Minnesota and Iowa. Cathy Highland is a makeup artist in Los Angeles. Karen Leininger, Karla Blackwood and Marilyn Johnson are stay-at-home moms in Pennsylvania, Montana and Minnesota. Diana Sarussi, once a CPA, works at a Starbucks in Arizona. Jane Nash is a psychology professor in Massachusetts. Angela Jamison owns a public-relations firm in North Carolina.[1][2][3][4][5]