The Upper Class

June 4, 2007
Assigned as roommates at the prestigious Wellington boarding school, brash Long Island native Nikki and Connecticut-bred Laine are as different as can be. Each girl is uniquely troubled: Nikki's mother is dead, and at Wellington, her sexy clothes and big mouth mark her as a misfit; Laine's parents are divorced, and while her highbrow background helps her fit in, she's unable to stand up to anyone, including her dorm's alpha girl, who frequently targets Nikki. The trio of authors, former boarding school chums themselves, has created a readily believable environment and characters (and of course, there is no shortage of bad behavior at Wellington.) Popular girls bet on “which new girl will leave first”—Nikki is a prime candidate—and circle other girls' body flaws with markers, adding derogatory words. Nikki must meet with the dean after she's caught with a boy out in the woods. Teens will not be surprised when Nikki and Laine eventually learn to like—and lean on—each other, though their bonding over Thanksgiving break does not feel entirely convincing. Still, the authors' often lyrical language (“Tree branches clatter in the cool autumn night. Clouds move fast over the moon, changing the shadows, and light pools on the roofs.... It's moments like these when she belongs to no one, not even herself”) breathes life into this take on a classic culture clash story. Ages 14-up.

August 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Two worlds are about to collide when Laine Hunt and Nikki Olivetti are assigned to be roommates at Wellington, a prestigious Connecticut prep school. Laine is someone you would find in a Wellington brochureblonde, beautiful, star athlete, and a Greenwich native. Nikki, on the other hand, is a loud brassy girl from Long Island, NY. Her family is what Laine would sneeringly call "new money." Sparks fly, of course, but by the end of the semester, the teens are the best of friends and it is Nikki who is the stronger of the two. The best way to describe what is wrong with this book is to use the old adage "too many cooks spoil the broth." The story line is so choppy and lacking in cohesion that it appears as though the three authors wrote without consulting one another. It also seems that they never researched how teenagers actually speak or think. Parts of the narrative are positively laugh-worthy. For example, after losing her virginity, Nikki has these thoughts: "Sometimes the body is the way out of the self. There's a big sky inside yourself where you can take flight. It's moments like these when she belongs to no one, not even herself. She is lost in some blue within or beyond or nearby, but not here." Pass on this title."Robyn Zaneski, New York Public Library"

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