Prep: A Novel (Wheeler Compass)

by Curtis Sittenfeld

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A modern classic of adolescent angst and ambition set in the world of prep school, from the author of Romantic Comedy and Eligible—“a tart and complex tale of social class, race, and gender politics” (The Boston Globe)
 
One of The New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of the Year
 
Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when her father drops her off in front of her dorm at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. She leaves her animated, affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, at least in part because of the boarding school’s glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls in kilts hold lacrosse sticks on pristinely mown athletic fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel.

As Lee soon learns, Ault is a cloistered world of jaded, attractive teenagers who spend summers on Nantucket and speak in their own clever shorthand. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of—and, ultimately, a participant in—their rituals and mores. As a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider and is both drawn to and repelled by other loners. By the time she’s a senior, Lee has created a hard-won place for herself at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her carefully crafted identity within the community is shattered.

Ultimately, Lee’s experiences—complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant—coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all.

• ISBN10: 081297235X
• ISBN13: 9780812972351
• Publish Date: 22 November 2005 (first published 1 January 2005)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Trade Paperbacks
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780812972351

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Lee is a mid-western girl with a dream -- to go to boarding school. At the tender age of 13, she applies and get accepted to a fine school in MA. Against her parents' better judgement, she begins her education there.

This story is a recollection of Lee's four years at school, but also a reflection, as it is peppered with commentary coming from an older Lee. Lee spent her four years of high school largely observing what everyone else was doing, hiding herself and her desires from everyone, but actually being seen more than she thought. I appreciated this look into a subculture that I was no part of (having gone to a public high school), but that I could relate to (said public school was very small) and experiences that most could relate to. What girl has not felt left out, not pretty enough or insecure at some point? I have read some very unfavorable reviews for this book and the complaints vary from: moves to slow to cannot relate. It is not an action-packed story. It is a girl, reflecting on lessons learned during her high school years, reflecting on missed windows of opportunity and BIG mistakes she had made. But it is a very thoughtful book, and well written. I saw myself on the campus with Lee. I felt my heart breaking for her and tears welling up in my eyes during her senior year. I felt happy for any success that she enjoyed. The fact that I felt anything for her means the book touched me in some way and the author made a connection with me.