"In America, every kid has to be well rounded," Chloe said. "They have 10 different activities, and they never excel at any of them. Americans want everyone to have the same life; it's a cult of the average. "





"Everyone would say, 'You must be so proud of your daughter,' " Natalie told me. "I used to say that it's not for me to be proud; it's Natasha who does this herself — but I learned that this is not the polite American way. So now I always say, 'I am so proud of my daughter,' and then maybe we can have a conversation." Natasha agreed. "What did they do to make me practice?" she asked when I first interviewed her, at 16. "What did they do to make me eat or sleep?"