High School Confidential Secrets of an Undercover Student

by Jeremy Iversen

This outrageously entertaining exposé chronicles the true adventures of Jeremy Iversen, a 24-year-old investment banker who passed himself off as a second-semester senior transfer student at Mirador High in southern California. Inspired by every John Hughes movie he had ever seen, Iversen set out in search of the suburban school experience his privileged Exeter education had denied him. But what he found at Mirador was less Pretty in Pink than Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Immersed in a confusing culture of sexual permissiveness, religious fundamentalism, rampant recreational drug use, and academic apathy, the author bluffed his way from cliques and classes to parties and pep rallies all the way to graduation -- his real identity known only to school administrators. We give High School Confidential a resounding A+ for its irresistible smarty-pants tone and its surprising revelations about students and teachers alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Memoir, Sociology, Cultural, Adult, High School

447 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2013

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The opening parts of this book were fairly interesting, although Iversen comes across as a little holier-than-thou in his discussion of why he chose not to enter the corporate world. Basically, the author managed to parlay his undergraduate degree in social sciences into an opportunity to live out his John Hughes/Cameron Crowe fantasy of going to an all-American high school--at the age of 24. The earlier sections, in which Iversen describes the process of getting into a school and then deals with all the students mistaking him for a narc, were quite entertaining overall. After that, Iversen removes himself from the narrative, and the book began to fall apart for me.

He retells the same two-week period from the POV of a few different students, and after a couple repetitions, this was completely boring. I almost considered abandoning the book, a real rarity for me. Plus, Iversen admitted up front that he changed the names of the students and created them by combining various aspects of the different people, so their identities would be protected. In this section, I came to feel that Iversen was veering into near-fictional territory because he relied so heavily on cliches and types. For example, the Latino troublemaker student, who is failing nearly all of his classes, is a real whiz at fixing cars. The teen behavior is a constant over-the-top barrage of teen sex, drug use, and crime. I found it all a little hard to believe.

Another issue I had with this book was its use of endnotes. Sometimes, Iversen would provide a note to define teen slang that even the most un-hip reader could get based on context clues. Also, he apparently wanted the body of the work to read more like a narrative and relegated all his statistical data and analysis to the back. After the initial fun of hearing about the beginnings of the project, these were some of the most interesting parts, and I wished that Iversen had chosen to use that more academic tone for his book.

I liked that Iversen deconstructed a little of the "Millennial Generation" propaganda that is out there, but reading a plotless narrative of boorish teen behavior still made for tiresome reading.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading this I kept going back and forth between feeling like I was reading the next screenplay for a Larry Clark/Harmony Korine movie & feeling like all that Iverson discovered wasn't that different from when I went to high school and therefore not that interesting. (Maybe it hasn't been long enough yet...in fact, I can't tell if I am technically a part of the Millenial generation that he writes about or Gen X!) Plus the way he described the kid's speech really reminded me of my own high school sister which lent some authenticity for me.

I think Iverson set out to make some big breakthrough a la Cameron Crowe with Fast Times (which he mentioned numerous times!) but in the end all he really accomplished in my opinion was getting his own personal high school experience which he didn't get to experience when he attended some prep school back east.

My one big complaint about the book was his ridiculous need to use endnotes. Some of them were interesting but some were just there to explain what "tight" means & other slang that isn't hard to decipher unless you are 90 years old with no grandchildren. I think he definitely could have just inserted his info right there in the text rather than irritating me by making me flip to the back of the book like it was a serious scholarly document. Give me a break! This was so irritating that I am having a hard time not knocking off another star from the rating!

In any case, I don't think I would recommend this unless you are seriously feeling out of touch with today's youth.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was at the bookstore and looking over the bargain bin when a woman saw me reading the inside of the book. She told me her nephews attended the school in the book and that basically the author "exaggerated" the events (like I haven't heard that about memoirists before) and other inside info. I figured for $2.99 I would read it. I am on a roll reading "trash" lately. Sigh, I need a break every now and then.
This is supposed to be really trashy but I have to get through the first chapter(s) of the author describing how he was deprived of a "real teenage" experience because he grew up in the 1990's and not when John Hughes was still making his teen flicks. Gawd, this guy just doesn't want to grow up but then again, I don't either. I would love to go back to college, party, hang-out and have a good figure again.
Finally finished this. It was a soap opera but eventually the author took himself out of the story and it became interesting. Didn't love it, didn't hate. If you have nothing else to read, this is okay.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read. Amazing that this dude was able to get permission to go into a high school and do this. Or that the administration seemingly 'forgot' who he was or that he was even there. It really drove home how old I am, and how isolated my high school was. Or maybe it was just me who was isolated, maybe shit like this book detailed really did happen where I was, and I was blind.

Read the book. It opens your eyes a little.

[Sally · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author needs to grow up and realize his life is in front of him, NOT behind him.

[Lani · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, High School Confidential Secrets Of An Undercover Student was one of the best books I ever read. Being able to go in depth of the real teenage mindset and their obligations while having to go through school was a very interesting way while the whole time he was just a spy. Being able to see the lives of such characters such as Charity Warner and Alexis Newton and the somewhat seed of hatred for each other was drawing and attentive. The lives that these teenagers live from wild partying to studying for finals to even have your personal business released to the whole world while being in high school wad the tip of the ice burg. I would recommend this book to anymore who wants to read something more human and more realistic than face novels this would be the book for you. To read this book is seeing the mindset that some teenagers actually live and actually experience is so intriguing. At the beginning it starts off a bit slow bit with the continued page flipping it gets better and better with every page flip leaving you with a addiction to go on and continue. You get very entwined with the characters that they see and feel more human than most other books. Jeremy Iverson has blow the water out of the ocean with this pager turner of an addiction. From Alexis Newton skipping class to go smoke behind the science quad, to Victor struggles to maintain his behavior in school, to the kids skipping class to go drink on the football field… this book has it all. If you want a glimpse in the real world, with real places, with characters that give you more of a glimpse of the teenage problems and mindset for some. Than this is everything your looking for.

[Anna Karras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeremy Iversen went to a Manhattan prep school, and never had what he considered a "typical high school experience." So when he graduated from college and stared down the fate awaiting him (i.e. the job, the career, the house, the wife, the family) he wasn't ready. Perhaps as a way of avoiding that fate, he chose instead to conduct a cultural experiment where he went undercover at a suburban high school in Orange County, CA to see what a real high school is like. It was engrossing, and read like a soap opera, but I am not sure how much it really illuminated. There were a lot of interesting tidbits about teenagers today and what they are into. It also talked about the scary stuff like the rampant drugs, alcohol, sex and steroid abuse he encountered. But he drew no conclusions and offered no solutions.

[Sarah Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far I can completely relate to what Iversen is trying to convey with his book. I am currently in my mid-20's, which he was when he went undercover, and I am the generation that he "infiltrates." There are always times when I wish to remember what daily high school was like but the memories are clouded with the large events, Spring Fling, Prom, Beach Week and graduation. However, by reading Iversen's book I reminded of the daily grind of high school, and how badly it could suck. Even though he was living on the west coast at the time and I grew up on the east coast, I think it shows that every teenager that believes that their experiences alone are unique is quite mistaken.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

High School Confidential is an interesting autobiography about how it's author, Jeremy Iversen, went undercover for one semester at Mirador High School to find out just what it is that makes teens the way they are in society today. While the book does have some faults, such as possible over-exaggeration of certain events and confusing flashbacks/flash forwards, it definitely will keep those high school drama-loving people turning page after page. The footnotes in the back also offer explanations of statistics and words that older readers may not pick up on easily. All in all, I found I enjoyed this book a lot and I'm certainly glad I bought it!

[Dalton Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel that there is a critical message about the state of our system and the people it is meant to benefit buried within the pages of High School Confidential, and I’d encourage anyone interested to read it. Iversen was brave enough to do what all of us ought to be doing but what few of us actually are. He listened long and hard to the most important and most neglected voices in our school system; those of the students. Through his ambitious, well-researched, and meticulously end-noted work, every parent, teacher, school board member, and administrator can now do as Jeremy did and take a moment to listen to the students. For that, High School Confidential deserves at least four stars.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting expose of contemporary high school culture. This book would have been better if not for the extensive literary license taken (the experiences of many students compressed into a few archetypes, the use of statistics in building character portraits instead of actual experience). Reading the inevitable drama fallout on Amazon is pretty entertaining.

[Roxanne Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my goodness. i graduated class of 1991 and i thought things were a bit weird, but this was insane the level of responsibilities these kids are faced with, with absolutely no experience available to them. They had no foundation of rational thought because they have been spoonfed from the school system and consumer-fed from their community and media.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fast, easy read. It gives a good idea of what life is like in High Schools. Iversen goes back to high school undercover after graduating college. He is accepted as a student and writes about it firsthand. If you are involved with high school age kids, I highly recommend it.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, because the author really got into the heads of his so called classmates, and I was fascinated by the way he pulled his ruse off, but if this book is all true, and high schools around America are all like this, I weep for the future!

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Really understand perspective about how the author begins to feel loyal to his subjects. Reminds me not of my hs but the district where I teach.

[Andra · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at modern high school, a repeat of Cameron Crowe and "Fast Times..". Scary how corrupt the world is. I must have been a serious geek in HS to miss out.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

teachers need to read this.

[Renz Homer Cerillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book is inspired. i might as well do the same thing. it almost felt like reading "the perks of being a wallflower", but this one is a little crazier.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was torn on how to rate this book. I mean, I admire the effort, but there was no linear plot or primary point to carry it through, and the protagonist himself (the author) is off camera for a large portion of the book, so it just kind of meandered. I was interested in what was required to be a 24-year-old passing as a high school student. Was there a language barrier? Did he ever feel awkward? Was he ever in danger of being found out? Did he walk in there all "How you doin', fellow kids?" Was there insight he gained in the six years after high school that worked against him this time around? How did he notice it lacking in the students he befriended? What was his reaction when they said some of the racist and classist stuff they did, now that he'd been out in the world and lived a little?

I was interested in what went into the gonzo nature of the assignment, which apparently wasn't what interested him. He wanted to inform us about Kids Today, and they're not really all that different from kids of any generation. You can tell this is his MO because he included a pretty useless glossary in the back. They say "tight" to mean "cool." We get it. I didn't care about what words they used. I wanted to know how it felt to try to go back in time, and what he noticed this time that he didn't notice before. Maybe I'm not the target audience for this though. I'm not entirely sure who is.

[Elizabeth Gabhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book is a great resource for people who want to know what high school is like - maybe older people who want to know what younger generations experience, people who went to much richer or much poorer schools who want to know what a middle class high school is like, people who were homeschooled, people who want to know what high school is like in the U.S., etc. It would be a useful book for many people. I felt a bit bored by it, although I don't think that's the fault of the book. Iverson delivers exactly as promised - a first-hand, undercover account of high school.

I thought the prose was a teeny bit tortured, but not enough to keep me from reading if I had been more engaged in the story. For example, page 81 begins with, "The sun blazed in the glory of noon, somewhere beyond a sky of solid clouds..." Reading that sentence, I imagined a sunny sky at first and then had to put my brain in reverse, back up, and revise my image to a cloudy day with the sun existing somewhere in space. It's not the worst writing I've ever read, but it's not the best either. I could see some readers liking this style and calling it "poetic", but to me the text is annoyingly obfuscated.

Eh, I don't hate it, but I also don't love it enough to continue reading past page 90 or so. If the premise sounds interesting to you, I wouldn't warn you away from it.

[Janessa Paun · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ummmmmm, I know I didn’t go to high school in this area and about 15 years after this book was published but I did go to three different high schools in California and one of them was a public school. And this book just didn’t speak to the high school experience at all, so many of the things that happened seemed so unrealistic especially all of the accreditation stuff. I also didn’t really like any of the students, even Derrick who I liked from the beginning ruined it with some of his views. The only ones I liked were Thea and Evelyn (I too would be so annoyed with the grading and the way the teachers acted if I was her). The author and his actions in the book as well as his writing style weren’t great either. The only reason that I even finished this book is because I don’t like to DNF them. But the absolute worst part of this book is the way that the special ed students were treated and how the vice principal defended it the school had them picking up trash every single day at lunch while they were harassed (including hate speech) and ridiculed by other students and then had to sort out the trash and recycling and wash it and take it to get money for the recycling in order to help fund some of the special ed programs. It was so incredibly cruel, I had no words when reading about it and it was frequently mentioned.

[Jerald Vernon Torres · Rating 2 out of 5]

HIGHSCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (The Secret of an Undercover Student)
Jeremy Iversen
TWO STARS

Wow! The beginning was superb, but it’s only the beginning not all throughout.

I remember the time I saw this book under a rack from booksale (S.M. Manila) – it was my hobby that even though it was thirty minutes before class I went to this bookstore to browse at books, I pick it up and knew that it is a ‘sale-sale’, it only cost five pesos. I read the back and was astounded that it is a journal of a true undercover student. Since the premise is good, I bought it without hesitation.

If you ask me I regret doing so,

I will answer NO; in tagalong “Sulit ang limang piso ko!”, in English “My five pesos is worth it!”

I like the beginning of the book The author was equipped with potentials, he was an intellectual narrator-the raw talent of his story telling skills made me hooked to it. I like how it started, it excites me and made me curious. I want to know what will happen to him as undercover student. It turns out the story revolves to six different kids, who are diverse from each other.

Theodora Margarid Danielian- The eccentric but artistic wealthy sophomore who is anonymous to the eye of the school. She is one of the introverts which can be described as ‘shoplifting-scene-kid’; she has a liberal but weird idea how about the world go on and on, but what she really cares about is getting noticed. It happened in a harsh way- it turned her world upside-down. The one she thought as euphoria actually doomed her.

Charity Warner- Although superficial, she was a victim of excessive bullying-like gossiping. She had an initiative like a bull fighter, a compulsive attitude, and has honest loyalty. She do what it takes to get herself clean for she know the truth from what everybody thought is true.

Victor Maria Reyes-Has potential but buoyed in a world of barbiturates, nicotine, and marijuana. A trouble maker in nature, he was struggling to graduate with three strike contract.

Cody Adam Reisling-A steroid raging athlete whose bestfriend died in a car accident- who defines his life. He has ascetism towards his good natured parents that force him to live under the roof of his sexed-up brother who do nothing but to compare their differences. With a pessimistic perspective of life, in which he thought that made him go living, made him miserable. Living behind the shadow of fear.

Alexis Romero Newton- Antidisocial promiscuous prom queen; a good image towards her father to cover up her actual ‘Good Girls Gone Wild’ life. Everything associated to her is thought to be perfect in or out the school, which in reality – she was a withering symbol of perfection. She was in a state of confusion whether to follow the domestic mandatory submission or to go with the flow of life. She has to control destiny to search for her true happiness.

Derrick Ian Littlefield- An administration puppet, a perfect image but living in a viracious state. He has no voice, just doing what others told him, using him for their own welfare. He need to get out of his illusions and face his manic depression to express what he feels about anything that is wrong-as in between he is omniscient, as a leader, a friend and as an individual.

And the administration that will stop at nothing to make their failing school to look good.

When it comes to the middle of the book, my interest dwindle a bit. The flat parts are mostly character building devices that takes almost two hundred pages. In that part, nothing really happened, scenarios that can be put aside. It is even out of the plot, just an index of the characters that are affected by the story.

The chapter Two Weeks Go Deep can be removed from the book without affecting the whole story. I wish that it is not written because readers got bored at that part. Although, I still continue reading.

I’m glad that the next chapter caught my attention but I expect more than what happened- I thought that it is about him and how he deals with the school but it turns out he become very objective. He was observing and narrating what happened without his involvement.

The plot is not a unified story, but a patch work of different story-the struggles of the different characters, how they face it and the results of their actions.

So why two stars?

(-polarity)
1. First and foremost, I don’t know if I have a different culture from an American teenager or the dialogues is just cheesy. The characters are very distinct which is like they are having an extremist personality than a deviant one. Superflawed heroins, no likeable one.

2. Poor plot development where the story doesn’t make the book good. The author lacks plan on the book.

3. Flat part is almost half the book.

4. Concept, theme and message is not actually delivered to the reader.

(+polarity)

1.This is a real story conveyed in a composite world. What is also written in the book is true to this time. The ages 17-19 which is High school in America and college in the Philippines face the same problem. I am second year college and to be honest what are we always do is drink, party and the like. During the time I read this book, I find myself believing in the credibility of the author.

2.I like the writing style of the author. He was an erudite. He has a lot of potentials, and he was an intelligent writer. I hope he write something else than his usual books about beer boon and beer pongs.

3.It is a smart book

I don’t know if I like this book but it was a good read.

[Mia]

I got this book at the library in high school

[Carrie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

“High School Confidential” by Jeremy Iverson is most definitely an eye-opening, thought-provoking read about the current state of our public high schools and their students. I teach at a small, residential high school for deaf students, nothing like the large, urban, public high school of “Mirador,” so my experiences each day, and the experiences I think many of my students have, are nothing like those described in the book. I don’t even know how well these stories and students align with the high school I attended “back in the day” (the day of 1993-1997). But, that aside, this book is not a work of fiction (at least not a work of complete fiction), so we must pause and reflect on what its contents mean for teens of today and the state of education in our schools!

As far as the book itself goes, I was torn on how to rate it. I was intrigued at the beginning, but after the first 30 pages or so, I found the book complete soporific. I actually used a section of about 200 pages to help myself fall asleep for several nights when sleep was eluding me. But then, suddenly, I found myself completely invested in these students and their stories. I couldn’t wait to find out how they turned out, what the “end” of their story was. And I���m still thinking about the book several days later. It’s rare when a book STILL has me in its grasp 5 days after I finished. So that says something, right. In the end, I went with the middle-of-the-road Three Stars… because what else do you do when you’re bored to tears for half of a book and then furiously turning pages for the other half?

Another aspect of the book that left me torn was the language. There were sections of the book that my high school students would LOVE – real teen dialogue and real topics of interest to them using the language they would actually use. But other sections of the book… well… the language could be described as nothing other than grandiloquent. It seemed as if Mr. Iverson has challenged himself to use as many multi-syllabic SAT words in one sentence as he could. I have a master’s degree, and there were parts that I just had to read, re-read, and then say, “Whatever THAT means!” and move on.

Reflecting on this book, I did come to one relatively easy conclusion: I will not be recommending this to any of my students. I don’t think many, if any, of them would persevere through the boring parts and think through the challenging parts. In all honesty, many of them would probably take one look at the 400+ pages and the tiny print and put it right back on the shelf before they even discovered the uphill climb inside the cover.

But this IS a book that I will recommend to other high school teachers. Why? I think it has some universal lessons in it that are important for us to hear. First, our students have way more going on in their lives than our homework, and even if WE don’t think those “things” are significant, they really are earth-shattering for our students. We have to keep that in mind. And sometimes, just sometimes, the things going on in their lives are really heavy and require patience and respect from us. Second, our students really DO want to learn and they want to be taught by TEACHERS. But learning does not happen just because we stick a textbook in our students hands, give “academic” (read as “monotonous”) lectures, or assign big projects. Learning occurs when we make information relevant and ACCESSIBLE (we have to remember that students learn in different ways and often there are undiagnosed learning problems that are leading to negative behaviors – it’s not all “teenage laziness”). And this learning needs to be provided by teachers; we are not their friends, we are not military drill instructors, and we are most certainly not their romantic interests! Finally, we need to practice what we preach. If we say that school time is valuable, then we need to MAKE it valuable, not fill it with loosely-related movies, silly assemblies, or games and parties. If we think standardized tests and school accreditation are worthwhile, then they need to be incorporated into EVERYTHING we do, not just pulled out and pranced around for a week a year or when an outside evaluation team arrives. I’m sure there is lots most that we could learn from this book, but those are the two things that stood out the most to me.

In the end… I’m glad I pushed through this book. I seriously considered dropping it on more than one occasion. But, now that I’m done, I’m SO GLAD I took the ride! Maybe that means the book actually deserves 4 stars?!? Who knows? But if you’re in education, especially high school education, I recommend you read this book. While there are boring parts, challenging parts, and parts that just seem absolutely too absurd to be true, there are LOTS of valuable nuggets of truth to be taken away. And, I think that makes everything else insignificant!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm, not so sure how I felt about this one.

So Jeremy Iverson goes undercover as a senior in an Orange County high school to expose what high school is like these days. Well, actually not really. He really wanted to go because he didn't want to get a normal job after college, but hey, I don't really blame him. And he wanted to experience high school as part of the "me generation" instead of his generation, which was apparently anti-teenager (right in between the John Hughes 80's movies and the me generation, I think). Fair enough. He joins the popular crowd, which I wasn't sure if it was to get a better story (drinking! sex!), or if he never experienced being popular so thought he would give it a go this time around.

Some parts were really amusing. Some parts were so dead on, omg, this was my high school. Some of it...eh, I really wondered if he was exaggerating. I spent most of the time wondering if this was actually the truth, or if he wrote a piece of fiction and framed it as the truth to make it a more interesting story. (That probably doesn't make sense, but I'm thinking of The Princess Bride by William Goldman, how Goldman was acting as if he was abridging a tale by S. Morgenstern. I love Goldman, though, I'm unsure of my feelings for Iverson.)

Also, could we have a better conclusion to the story? What happened to Thea? Did any of these people go to college and graduate? Do any of them have a brain? And also, I really must know if any of the teachers were fired after this book came out, no matter how much he tried to conceal their identities. This book is why we need to pay our teachers more. So quality people step forth and lead our youngsters, instead of subpar idiots.

[Emmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was condescending, egotistical, and mostly a fictionalized caricature of the students he meets. Iversen writes that his book is a "guiding star" to the "world of high school" and you can "explore at your own pace" (or something like that...I gladly returned the book the library, so I can't quote word for word), and then basically indicates that all of the characters and situations are just representations of what actually happened.

And while I don't doubt that the situations are real, I DO doubt that all of them happened to each of the given characters. Additionally, there is a big chunk of the book written about events that took place before he even "infiltrated" the school. But of course, it's ALL TRUE. Word for word, right?

I'm also annoyed that he provides such a negative view. Sure, sex, drugs, and rock and roll (or emo, in this case) sell, but I'm positive those weren't the only situations encountered in this high school. And uncaring, unproductive teachers do exist in - but I would like to think don't DOMINATE - middle class schools, unlike in this account.

I'm also unimpressed by his frequent remark to the effect that this was the most amazing / bold / daring / surprising thing he had ever HEARD of someone doing. He didn't know of ANYONE leaving the "track" (the track being banking / law / management) and succeeding. That shouts "sheltered life" to me. And I've lead a pretty sheltered life myself.

Anyway, I could go on, but I really need to go to bed.

Bottom line: don't bother.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was browsing education books in the library when this one caught my eye. I am a high school teacher and I have worked in two different school districts. I wanted to see what this guy found and if it was similar to my experience with high school life. I still was surprised at some of the things he encountered.
I grew up in Orange County so I kept trying to figure out which school this was. I couldn't pin it down, but then I looked up online and found out it wasn't even OC, but Claremont-the IE! Yeah-I know he makes up composite characters so that nobody can figure out who is who. I'm still not sure how much is fact and how much is fiction. I can see the different types of students and there will always be the "cool" kids and the "artsy" ones. Still there is a lot of drinking and drugging and sexing going on. The teachers barely teach and as a teacher, that makes me sad.
My favorite part is the WASC accreditation process. I have gone through that twice and it seems like such a bunch of BS at times. How can you judge a school on some data and a couple days of observations? You know that everyone is putting on a show. It's just like when some teachers get evaluated and they suddenly dress different or do this cool lesson that never happens again. Oh vey.
So I am not sure this is earth shattering, but it is a bit of fun to read about "real" high school students every now and then. I wish the adults weren't so clueless.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find it hard to believe that high school in Kentucky and high school in California can be SOOOO different. Perhaps I'm still operating under the idealistic worldview common to younger teachers. Iverson's book really stretches in terms of credibility, in my opinion. Since we follow the antics of only a handful of students at a pretty large So Cal school, I'm assuming that what we have here is the most "dramatic" of the bunch -- because otherwise it would be boring. Only a handful of teachers are shown too -- and while they are woefully inadequate, I'm hoping again that it's an issue of focusing on the worst case and ignoring the more competent teachers. There's a lot of really cliche work and stereotypes going on here, which makes me wonder if it is possible to present an accurate representation of a regular high school without succumbing to stereotypical representations, since student cliques obviously are structured in a way that feeds into those stereotypes. Overall, I'm not sure what I was expecting but this book just left me feeling left down and pretty hopeless when it comes to high school education and our kids.

Oh yeah, one more thing.

Where are the damn parents in this book? I just can't imagine stepping so far way from my kids' lives that I don't know (and don't care? wth?) about what they are doing when they aren't with me.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It sure is an interesting idea for a book (posing as a highschool student and then hitting us with an "insider's look"), although as the author points out, Cameron Crowe did it first when he posed as a highschool student to get some insider info for "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" (and honestly, this author deserves a lot of credit for pulling this off, since Cameron did it back in the late 70's when nobody had heard of liability yet & schools could still do pretty much whatever they wanted. Can you imagine that conversation? Cameron: Hi, I'm some guy in my 20s, and I want to come to your school and pose as a highschool student for a book I'm writing. It might even eventually get made into a movie. I'm totally not going to sleep with any of your students or party with them. Really. Principal: Well...I can't see any potential problems here. When can you start?).
My only problem with this book (and I guess it is a pretty big problem) is that the setup is much better than the payoff - the author's discussion of how he came up with the idea to do this project & what he had to do to get everything set up ended up being much better than the actual material about the highschool students. So yeah, I guess get it from the library and just read the first 100 pages or something. I hope this guy writes another book though, because I recall really liking his writing style.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read this book, the more I thought, "I am getting old." Having graduated from a urban public high school in 1981, I thought I had a realistic look at what high school was.
Taking place some 25 years after Cameron Crowe went undercover to research what would become Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jeremy Iversen went undercover at a California High School to record high school life today.
Think you know that sex, drugs, and rock and roll go on at our nation's high schools? After reading this, you may be shocked at the levels revealed. Not only does it occur, but it occurs more often , and with a blase-ness - that leave the reader in disbelief.
Ineffective teachers, administrators who treat their school like a corporation, students in AP level courses who can't decipher written instructions, racism, social castes, not to mention the rampant drugs, booze and sex; it's all here. Oh, and let's not forget Standardized testing, and the college application process.
This book takes the glitter off any images you may have about current millennial life in high school. More in tune with the 1950's film Blackboard Jungle than The Breakfast Club, this book will remove any idea from your head that high school today is still very much a John Hughes film.