Private by Kate Brian
Reed comes from a poor family and has an alcoholic pill popper for a mother. Her father wants her to have a good high school experience and feels she can only do that away from home. She gets academic and sports scholarships so she can attend the elite Easton Academy, a boarding school where all the rich and powerful send their children.
At first Reed doesn’t want to make friends because her home life is just to hard to0 share. She feels she should just dedicate herself to studying and making the best attempt at the gift her father has given her through his many sacrifices. But then one night during the first week she stares across campus and notices Billings House, the upperclassman women’s dorm that only accepts the most academically and socially gifted students. For Reed, Billings House equals not just popularity but an escape from her horrible home life, and her one chance to define herself all over again.
The problem is that her one chance may just come at the price of her own self-respect. And to make it worse there is a hot senior who likes making out with her and swears that he loves her. And then there is the little thing called homework and getting straight A’s. Reed is forced to balance her love life, her grades, and impressing the Billings elite if she has any hope in succeeding at her new school.
I have a mixed reaction to this book. On one hand Reed is a very well established character and that really drew me into the story. The social drama that arises with her obsession with the Billings elite also gradually becomes more complex as more reasons are revealed as to why the Billings girls act the way they do. Nothing is just as it seems, and you get the random insight to the other characters’ humanity. The novel also doesn’t hide the characters’ faults. So there is some moral ambiguity that leaves the reader questioning why people are acting the way they do, as well as how one part of a person’s life can affect another part (i.e. a rough home life might lead to alcohol abuse). The chapter are also really short so it stays engaging for reluctant readers.
On the other hand, social drama only carries the story so far. And it is never questioned if being popular and elitist is the right path for any young person to make. I can see Reed’s struggle with redefining herself , but at what cost? I am not sure if this question is answered in subsequent books (Private only covers the first quarter of her first year at Easton). At one point in the book, Reed makes a very adult decision and only struggles briefly with the moral/physical consequences. Again perhaps this gets touched upon in later books, but for at least this one the event doesn’t really add anything to the story so why even have it occur?
In the end this is a good book for reluctant readers who are into chick lit. I know from reading some spoilers that the series evolves into not your typical chick lit, but also adds campus mysteries to the social drama. It has also had a spin off series, Privilege, that is based on a socially unstable former Easton girl looking to recapture her elite status by any means necessary. Private is appropriate for anyone 14 and up, and does have some adult situations.
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