Lee Fiora is paranoid. She worries about whether her face is peeling when she talks to a classmate, she imagines terrible dates with her crush, she won't even eat spaghetti in public for her first two years of high school. And yet - is she that different from the rest of teenage society?
Curtis Sittenfeld captures the feeling of adolescence perfectly in her novel "Prep." The novel, a running narrative by Lee, gives readers insight into her four years at Ault, a boarding school in Massachusetts.
From her freshman through her senior year, Lee fritters away her life in pessimistic detail. A precalc class she's close to failing, a crush that she knows and yet doesn't know at all, and an accidental friendship are all memorable to her. And though Lee's worries may annoy some - who cares how loud she eats a potato chip? - her attention to detail brings the book to life.
I was amazed that someone else paid attention to the little things in life. As teens in a busy world of school, work, extracurriculars and college prep, we like to recall every detail. Sittenfeld captures that feeling with Lee Fiora, who you feel a genuine understanding for when you finish the book.
"A chick lit," some sneer, but Sittenfeld's ability for characterizing people puts the book a step above normal novels. For that fall read, pick up "Prep" - and be prepared to say, "I thought I was the only one!"
I like this review. Laura, I didn't even see it was you who wrote it til after I read it.
I liked the review enough to say so out loud.