Prep

AUTHOR: Curtis Sittenfeld
RATING: 3.0

Ever wondered what life would be like when you're bound for boarding school? Infinite freedom as you party till you drop a thousand miles away from the "parentals!" Curtis Sittenfeld's debut novel, Prep, writes about a mid-western teenager's experience with boarding school and the inner world of what a young girl goes through in ruthless teen hierarchy. This delightfully novel has become a National Bestseller and was chosen as one of the Ten Best Books of 2005 by the New York Times and will be translated into 22 languages. At 16, Sittenfeld won a fiction writing contest in Seventeen Magazine and has continued to write ever since.
Sittenfeld writes about Lee Fiora who leaves her home of South Bend, Indiana bound for Boston to attend the prestigious Ault School. Once in Ault, Lee quickly realizes how different she is with the likes of the uber-popular Aspeth Montgomery, the kind of girl about whom rock songs were written. A chance encounter with the enigmatic Cross Sugarman, who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush, opens her world of infatuation and sexual curiosity. Excessively insecure, Lee spends her long weekends in her dorm and sits out in school dances. Parents' weekend, school-wide game called Assassin and a suicide attempt by a former roommate are just some of the events she encounters in Ault.
Despite the dragging beginning, the novel is enjoyable and thought-provoking, it makes you laugh and smile and reflect on your own emotions and experiences. However, the novel has an overwhelming amount of details, which causes a lack of plot, as heavy emotions are involved. Nevertheless, the author does an unbelievable job in rekindling memories during one's high school days, making you wish you could return to those days again and at the same time grateful that you never had to relive it. Not a typical chick lit book, the author gives a genuine truth adolescence, depression and alienation.
An awe-inspiring and insightful read, surely readers won't resist looking back at what high school life really is.