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The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
by Alexandra Robbins

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25575.The_Overachievers_The_Secret_Lives_of_Driven_Kids?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167758095m/25575.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25575.The_Overachievers_The_Secret_Lives_of_Driven_Kids?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14141.Alexandra_Robbins">Alexandra Robbins</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32385776?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, a nonfiction work by Alexandra Robbins, is a book I chose to read because it was a requirement for our English Honors class. Students usually groan at the thought of reading a book because it is a school requirement, but I found The Overachievers to be quite an interesting read. In it, Robbins traces the thoughts and lives of several overachieving students, namely juniors and seniors, from Whitman High School located in Bethesda, Maryland, who face various dilemmas that range from being emotional and mental to physical. Most of these problems have been acquired through stress from the rigorous classes and extracurricular activities they take on, which are directly correlated to admissions into top tier universities. The desire to be accepted into the most prestigious colleges of the nation is derived from either the students’ ambition to become successful in life or from parental pressure.
 
 I found the central conflict in the novel to be man vs. man. The whole overachieving system, according to Robbins, originates from the ambitions of people to come out at the top; for people to be recognized publicly as the number one in whatever they encounter. But since there are only a handful of number one positions open, everyone scrambles wildly to grasp that title, often engaging in unethical behavior just to achieve it. Dishonesty is a major motif of the book; students guiltlessly use it to satisfy their own or their parents’ ambitions, which usually constitutes of achieving the highest marks possible, whether it be in academics or in sports. Some students, or parents even, go so far as to attempt to sabotage others’ chances for so-called “success.” Consequently, a student’s intellect can’t be judged based on the grades that he or she receives in school. Another result of this recurring dishonesty is that being successful in today’s overachieving society is no longer dependent upon an individual’s genuine hunger for knowledge and being able to fulfill that hunger by learning well purely for personal benefit. Therefore, the theme that I gathered from this book is that the concerns of overachieving students or their parents to become “successful” by today’s societal standards will often hinder their true desires. An example in the book is AP Frank, a graduate of Whitman High School, whose overbearing mother doesn’t take into account her son’s hopes for his own future. I believe that parents like that thrust a life upon their own children that they wish they had; thus, children are not really viewed as other, separate human beings, but rather symbolize a second chance at life.
 
 Robbins writes the book in a documentary style, often interrupting the stories of the students’ lives with her own commentary and carefully researched statistics, as well as comments from students from other schools around the United States. A reader might also get the impression that the novel is a compilation of third-person diary entries, with Robbins providing researched statistics that are directly related to the events of the students’ lives. What really sets The Overachievers aside from other typical research projects is the emotion and passion that Robbins puts into the subject. For example, it is evident from her writing style that she holds distaste for the No Child Left Behind Act, which she believes contributes to the stressful environment that schools have become. 
 
 The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a book I would definitely recommend to all the overachievers in America, especially the children under age twelve who are currently being pressured by their parents to learn material far beyond the typical level of learning at their age. Since the novel is quite easy to read, I mainly recommend it to young learners, because children of younger ages have the tendency to more loyally obey their parents’ wishes, no matter how strenuous. And eventually, they grow into the habit of acting accordingly with the intentions of their parents. Although reading this book might prove to be a disillusioning experience, I believe it to be better that children know in advance what kind of society they are growing up in. This novel is also a good read for high school students, who can connect to the overachievers on a personal level.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1500646?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Judy's review
rating:

recommended for: Anyone who can read at the fourth grade level
status: Read in September, 2008

The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, a nonfiction work by Alexandra Robbins, is a book I chose to read because it was a requirement for our English Honors class. Students usually groan at the thought of reading a book because it is a school requirement, but I found The Overachievers to be quite an interesting read. In it, Robbins traces the thoughts and lives of several overachieving students, namely juniors and seniors, from Whitman High School located in Bethesda, Maryland, who face various dilemmas that range from being emotional and mental to physical. Most of these problems have been acquired through stress from the rigorous classes and extracurricular activities they take on, which are directly correlated to admissions into top tier universities. The desire to be accepted into the most prestigious colleges of the nation is derived from either the students’ ambition to become successful in life or from parental pressure.

I found the central confli...more The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, a nonfiction work by Alexandra Robbins, is a book I chose to read because it was a requirement for our English Honors class. Students usually groan at the thought of reading a book because it is a school requirement, but I found The Overachievers to be quite an interesting read. In it, Robbins traces the thoughts and lives of several overachieving students, namely juniors and seniors, from Whitman High School located in Bethesda, Maryland, who face various dilemmas that range from being emotional and mental to physical. Most of these problems have been acquired through stress from the rigorous classes and extracurricular activities they take on, which are directly correlated to admissions into top tier universities. The desire to be accepted into the most prestigious colleges of the nation is derived from either the students’ ambition to become successful in life or from parental pressure.

I found the central conflict in the novel to be man vs. man. The whole overachieving system, according to Robbins, originates from the ambitions of people to come out at the top; for people to be recognized publicly as the number one in whatever they encounter. But since there are only a handful of number one positions open, everyone scrambles wildly to grasp that title, often engaging in unethical behavior just to achieve it. Dishonesty is a major motif of the book; students guiltlessly use it to satisfy their own or their parents’ ambitions, which usually constitutes of achieving the highest marks possible, whether it be in academics or in sports. Some students, or parents even, go so far as to attempt to sabotage others’ chances for so-called “success.” Consequently, a student’s intellect can’t be judged based on the grades that he or she receives in school. Another result of this recurring dishonesty is that being successful in today’s overachieving society is no longer dependent upon an individual’s genuine hunger for knowledge and being able to fulfill that hunger by learning well purely for personal benefit. Therefore, the theme that I gathered from this book is that the concerns of overachieving students or their parents to become “successful” by today’s societal standards will often hinder their true desires. An example in the book is AP Frank, a graduate of Whitman High School, whose overbearing mother doesn’t take into account her son’s hopes for his own future. I believe that parents like that thrust a life upon their own children that they wish they had; thus, children are not really viewed as other, separate human beings, but rather symbolize a second chance at life.

Robbins writes the book in a documentary style, often interrupting the stories of the students’ lives with her own commentary and carefully researched statistics, as well as comments from students from other schools around the United States. A reader might also get the impression that the novel is a compilation of third-person diary entries, with Robbins providing researched statistics that are directly related to the events of the students’ lives. What really sets The Overachievers aside from other typical research projects is the emotion and passion that Robbins puts into the subject. For example, it is evident from her writing style that she holds distaste for the No Child Left Behind Act, which she believes contributes to the stressful environment that schools have become.

The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a book I would definitely recommend to all the overachievers in America, especially the children under age twelve who are currently being pressured by their parents to learn material far beyond the typical level of learning at their age. Since the novel is quite easy to read, I mainly recommend it to young learners, because children of younger ages have the tendency to more loyally obey their parents’ wishes, no matter how strenuous. And eventually, they grow into the habit of acting accordingly with the intentions of their parents. Although reading this book might prove to be a disillusioning experience, I believe it to be better that children know in advance what kind of society they are growing up in. This novel is also a good read for high school students, who can connect to the overachievers on a personal level....less

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