The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

by Alexandra Robbins

published

2006 by Hyperion

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binding

Hardcover, 448 pages

isbn

1401302017 (isbn13: 9781401302016)

description

"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 be...more

[close] "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. [close]

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Sharon rated it:

09/24/08

Read in September, 2008

recommended to Sharon by: Ms. Campanella
recommends it for: High school students

Alexandra Robbins' The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a poignant, non-fiction work that touches upon the modern competitive education system, which has seemingly gone out of control. Rather than earning grades for learning, students are obtaining artificial grades through cheating, and even resorting to non-prescribed medications to facilitate their study habits in order to get into their dream college. During Alexandra's 10-year high school reunion, she gathers a group...more Alexandra Robbins' The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a poignant, non-fiction work that touches upon the modern competitive education system, which has seemingly gone out of control. Rather than earning grades for learning, students are obtaining artificial grades through cheating, and even resorting to non-prescribed medications to facilitate their study habits in order to get into their dream college. During Alexandra's 10-year high school reunion, she gathers a group of her friends' high school experiences and puts them in her book. It includes stereotypes such as the overachieving scholar, the popular athlete, those who are can never seem to fulfill their parents' expectations, and others who struggle to put on a flawless and well-rounded facade. These high school students engage themselves in numerous extracurricular activities, and also manage to balance seventeen AP classes throughout high school - all in attempt to get into their dream college.

The Overachievers is an enticing story which combines the conflicts of both man vs. society and man vs. himself. For example, Julie, a young student who portrays the typical overachieving scholar, gives her best effort to do extraordinarily well in school to get into her dream college, Stanford. She faces fierce competition among the other overachievers at school, and feels the need to maintain their perfect impressions of her. On the other hand, one of Julie's peers, AP Frank, feels pressured to fulfill his mother's harsh expectations. He is important to the novel because he shows that the lack of time and energy required to live up to these expectations, both shared by the students and their parents, is a product of the pressure of trying to live up to societal standards. Other overachievers compete to maintain a meticulous academic record in order to be accepted into a prestigious university. Each student invests hours of his or her personal time studying for each test, which slowly wears away at the character's sanity as they try to make room for a social life as well. With every club activity and study session he or she participates in, the student begins to feel the stress as they watch his/her time and energy dwindle to almost nothing. In retrospect, the driving force behind each character's actions is in response to the pressure and stress that acts as a constant motif throughout the novel. Julie and AP Frank are merely a few examples of the victims who suffer from the excruciating standards set by society and their parents in a desperate attempt to be accepted into an ideal college institution. College acts as the overpowering symbol of success that drives each character into a dismal and debilitating whirlwind of stress. However, Robbins exhibits a crucial theme in her book: Getting into a prestigious university does not determine whether one will be successful or not. She is reminding all high school students who constantly feel anxiety of getting into a name-brand college that school should be a place for learning - not a place for competing to be "number one."

Overall, The Overachievers is a compelling book that I was recommended to read in English class. It attracted me because I was able to relate to the high school experience in the story. This book has helped me constantly remind myself that grades are not an accurate judgment of what the potential an average student like I may have, and that school is just an environment to learn and grow. Robbins' diary-style writing makes the book feel a lot more personal, as if the reader were reading a friend's journal about the everyday stress from school. In between entries, Robbins intervenes and provides startling statistics on the various aspects of modern education, such as kids resorting to drugs to attain better performance in school and suicide rates. She also gives her opinion of what she thinks of the current education system - bad and inefficient. I would definitely recommend this book to all high school students today (especially juniors and seniors) who are looking for an easy-to-read book to relate to. Robbins' accessible style of writing keeps the audience captivated to want to continue reading on. The Overachievers is by far one of my favorite books - earning a rating of five out of five stars....less

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