"You can't just be the smartest. You have to be the most athletic, you have to be able to have the most fun, you have to be the prettiest, the best dressed, the nicest, the most wanted. You have to constantly be out on the town partying, and then you have to get straight As. And most of all, you have to appear to be happy." -- CJ, age seventeen High school isnt what it used to be. With record numbers of students competing fiercely to get into college, schools are no longer primarily places of learning. Theyre dog-eat-dog battlegrounds in which kids must set aside interests and passions in order to strategize over how to game the system. In this increasingly stressful environment, kids arent defined by their character or hunger for knowledge, but by often arbitrary scores and statistics. In The Overachievers, journalist Alexandra Robbins delivers a poignant, funny, riveting narrative that explores how our high-stakes educational culture has spiraled out of control. During the year of her ten-year reunion, Robbins returns to her high school, where she follows students including CJ and others: -- Julie, a track and academic star who is terrified she's making the wrong choices -- "AP" Frank, who grapples with horrifying parental pressure to succeed -- Taylor, a soccer and lacrosse captain whose ambition threatens her popular girl status -- Sam, who worries his years of overachieving will be wasted if he doesnt attend a name-brand college -- Audrey, who struggles with perfectionism, and -- The Stealth Overachiever, a mystery junior who flies under the radar. Robbins tackles hard-hitting issues such as the student and teacher cheating epidemic, over-testing, sports rage, the black market for study drugs, and a college admissions process so cutthroat that some students are driven to depression and suicide because of a B. Even the earliest years of schooling have become insanely competitive, as Robbins learned when she gained unprecedented access into the inner workings of a prestigious Manhattan kindergarten admissions office. A compelling mix of fast-paced storytelling and engrossing investigative journalism, The Overachievers aims both to calm the admissions frenzy and to expose its escalating dangers.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Eloquent, balanced, lively, and insightful:
Surprisingly well-written. The Overachievers offers a nice balance of real-character narrative and analysis, illustrative vignettes and statistics (and the anecdotes match the statistics, rather than being selected to misrepresent the broad picture, as I've seen done elsewhere). Most of the anecdotal illustrations focus on a fixed group of young people followed for about two years' worth of discussion, but that is itself balanced by interspersing the stories of other youth from other places in the United... more info
Interesting, yet imperfect read:
This is the third book I've read by Alexandra Robbins, the first two being Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities and Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis: Advice from Twentysomethings Who Have Been There and Survived (Perigee Book). It follows high school overachievers (and one college freshman) as they maneuver through the pressure of shooting for straight A's, high SAT scores and the college of their dreams.
The writing style and structure of this book is very similar to Pledged. She intertwines the... more info
Fascinating. Disturbing. Inspirational. (a high school teacher's review):
"The Overachievers" is a fascinating investigation into the lives of some of America's top students - the kids who want to do it all and oftentimes do, but at great personal cost and for dubious reasons. Alexandra Robbins befriends and follows several students from Whitman High School in Maryland through one school year as they try their best to score perfect 1600s and 2400s on the SATs, be accepted into Ivy League schools and pad their resumes to impress the admissions officers with tons of... more info
AMAZING:
LOVE this book and would recommend this to everyone!! Everyone I know who has read it has found some part applicable to themselves or their friends in high school! Informative and engaging - a must read for all students!!
