Living in overdrive
book: The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
Follows the lives of students from a Bethesda, Md., high school as they navigate the SAT and college application process. These students are obsessed with success, contending with illness, physical deterioration (senior Julie is losing hair over the pressure to get into Stanford), cheating (students sell a physics project to one another), obsessed parents (Frank’s mother manages his time to the point of abuse) and emotional breakdowns.
What matters to them is that all-important acceptance to the right name-brand school. “When teenagers inevitably look at themselves through the prism of our overachiever culture,” [the author] writes, “they often come to the conclusion that no matter how much they achieve, it will never be enough.” … She ends with a call to action, giving suggestions on how to alleviate teens’ stress and panic at how far behind they feel. [Publishers Weekly review]
> photo: Blanca Garibay, 18, an Options for Youth [California] student, sometimes takes son Andy to the learning center. (photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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