It's the rare woman who hasn't maintained ties with at least one friend from middle or high school, but with all 10 of your best teenage girlfriends, and for decades? Now that's a tale worth telling.

Jeffrey Zaslow, the Wall Street Journal columnist who co-authored the best-selling "The Last Lecture" with the late Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch, thought so, too. Now, he relates this story of an enduring friendship that has carried 11 women from Ames, Iowa, through college, careers, marriage and divorce and moves to eight different states.

The idea for the book grew out of a Wall Street Journal column Zaslow wrote in 2003 on the turning points in women's friendships. In response, Jenny Litchman from Ames detailed her extraordinary bond with her friends.

Three years later, the group, with some gentle urging from Zaslow, agreed to let him write a book about their 30-year relationship.

Much of the 292-page narrative flows from a four-day reunion at one of the women's home in North Carolina; Zaslow also had access to letters, diaries and e-mails detailing some information that had never been shared, an act, he writes, that led to some tense moments, uncomfortable debates and hurt feelings.

The book is a pleasant enough read, if not particularly compelling. Simply put, there aren't any moments of great drama or great writing that grab you and hold your attention.

Perhaps Zaslow's journalistic approach doesn't bring the same emotion to such life-changing events as the death of a child and a diagnosis of cancer as a first-person account might. Or perhaps it's just that a man writing about intimate relationships among women feels forced.

In addition, it's difficult at times to keep the 11 women straight, especially some of more minor characters. (I had to keep referring to the guide at the front of the book.) And the studies and statistics the author attempts to weave in drag the story down.

But if you're one of those lucky women who's managed to hold onto your BFFs from childhood, or simply wish you were one, "The Girls From Ames" will probably resonate with you. Despite its shortcomings, it's a testament to the bonds women share as they experience life's ups and downs and the power of friendship.

As Kelly, the group's most outspoken member, notes upon learning about another Ames woman's cancer:

"There will not be one moment when you are alone; not one moment when you are without unconditional love. We are always with you."