Curtis Sittenfeld's sparkling debut is set in an American boarding school, a hotbed of privilege, ambition and neurosis, every bit as snobbish and competitive as anything dreamed up on this side of the Atlantic. Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old. When her father drops her off at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts, she leaves behind her affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, her head filled with images from the school's glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old ...
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Curtis Sittenfeld's sparkling debut is set in an American boarding school, a hotbed of privilege, ambition and neurosis, every bit as snobbish and competitive as anything dreamed up on this side of the Atlantic. Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old. When her father drops her off at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts, she leaves behind her affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, her head filled with images from the school's glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls hold lacrosse sticks on pristine athletics fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel. As Lee soon learns, Ault is quite unlike anything she has previously experienced, a self-enclosed world populated by jaded teenagers whose expectations, values and social rituals are utterly unfamiliar to her. At first an observer of, then a participant in the hyper-vigilant, intricately demarcated life of the school, Lee eventually finds her own place in the pecking order - until a single act of spontaneous folly shatters her carefully honed identity. "Prep" is a sharp and lucid portrait of the pain and the excitement of adolescence, and a remorseless dissection of privilege and class in the cradle of the American establishment.
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Add this copy of Prep to cart. $31.74, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Random House.
I couldn't put this book down.The main character,Lee was so easy to relate to.She reminded me of Holden Caulfield.I was instantly transported to my high school years-years in which many of us felt (probably all of us!)as Lee did-out of place and not good enough-thinking that everyone else knew the score that was eluding us.At the end of the book I was so angry with Lee!I wished I could learn her future.I was hoping to find that she had"grown into her skin".I will certainly read this again soon and recommend this to others.
starcook
Apr 1, 2007
prep
Prep brought me back to my high school teenage days. It was a page turner that kept me interested in the lives of the characters. Prep reminded me how cruel teenage girls and boys could be even when they were not contained in an elite society and how much more insididious the cruelness could be when encapsulated in a priveleged society. This is a fabulous read, whether you are 15 or 55.....loved it......
