Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Prep
Curtis Sittenfeld
2005, Random House, New York
0330441272
403p.

The story of a lower middle class girl from Midwest America named Lee who gets into an east -coast boarding school. She has trouble fitting in and is a little (but not overly) shy. The book is set over her four years there (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and focuses on Lee's experiences and how she changes as she grows up in this environment.

I'm not sure if I enjoyed reading this one or not. It was very real. A little too real - I felt quite uncomfortable reading it in places, it just hit too close to home, even though I didn't relate personally to settings, characters or events. I couldn't read it in large chunks because it made me feel too depressed and I had to stop. I guess that's a sign that it was very well written in that it transports the reader into the story really well.

I normally don't like 'dumb' characters, but I found myself warming to Lee. It was a great insight into American east-coast boarding school life.

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