Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

After reading a heavy novel, The Kite Runner, I felt I needed something easy. Sadly, I chose Prep. This novel was not an easy read, but I think it's because I wasn't really interested in it. Once I got about half-way through, I felt that I had made too much of a time investment, so I figured I would finish it.

The story line is quite basic: a young, white, middle class girl from the Mid-West decided that public high school is just not good enough for her, so she begs her parents to allow her to attend a boarding school in the Northeast. Lee chooses the best school, Ault. Only the children of the best-of-the-best attend Ault; the wealtiest, most reputable families from around the country. Prep follows the changes that Lee goes through, her outlook on life, and how she deals with normal teenage issues, all while living at a boarding school.

I found this story to be very immature. The critics love this book, but I am just not seeing the same substance. It could possibly be because I just finished a very intense book, or because I am getting tired of the same predicatable teenage story line. If you are looking for an easy to read, coming-of-age story, Prep is the book for you.

"Curtis Sittenfeld's poignant and occassionally angst-ridden debut novel Prep is the story of Lee Fiora, a South Bend, Indiana, teenager who wins a scholarship to the prestigious Ault school, an East Coast institution where 'money was everywhere on campus, but it was usually invisible.' As we follow Lee through boarding school, we witness firsthand the triumphs and tragedies that shape our heroine's coming-of-age. Yet while Sittenfeld may be a skilled storyteller, her real gift lies in her ability to expertly give voice to what is often described as the most alienating period in a young person's life: high school.

True to its genre, Prep is filled with boarding school stereotypes--from the alienated gay student to the picture perfect blond girl; the achingly earnest first-year English teacher and the dreamy star basketball player who never mentions the fact that he's Jewish. Lee's status as an outsider is further affirmed after her parents drive 18 hours in their beat-up Datsun to attend Parent's Weekend, where most of the kids 'got trashed and ended up skinny-dipping in the indoor pool' at their parents' fancy hotel. Yet even as the weekend deteriorates into disaster and ends with a heartbreaking slap across the face, Sittenfeld never blames or excuses anyone; rather, she simply incorporates the experience into Lee's sense of self. ('How was I supposed to understand, when I applied at the age of thirteen, that you have your whole life to leave your family?')

By the time Lee graduates from Ault, some readers may tire of her constant worrying and self-doubting obsessions. However, every time we feel close to giving up on her, Sittenfeld reels us back in and makes us root for Lee. In doing so, perhaps we are rooting for every high school student who's ever wanted nothing more than to belong." --Gisele Toueg, Amzon.com

Take a gander yourself: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081297235X/sr=8-1/qid=1152201973/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-3474267-0831041?ie=UTF8