Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Hachette Books (2006), Edition: 1, 456 pages
Description
A look at the world of teens who face unbearable pressure to succeed explores such issues as intense stress, sports rage, parental guilt, the study drug black market, and the cutthroat college admissions process, as well as their impact on young people.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Ganeshaka
This is a flawed book but has two real strengths. The kids tell their own stories, and the stories are about the perils of success, not failure. I was drawn in quickly by these hooks, having been a high school nerd burnout myself, but sort of lost interest midway through. I would have preferred the
Still, I thought the stories compelling and left the book lying about for my 13 year old granddaughter to find while resting from her apparent video game career. My thinking was that 1) she would be forewarned of falling into the overachiever trap (although that's not really a major concern) 2) she would see that superstudents weren't merely gifted, but worked like hell for the grades and 3) she would not feel defeated if her grades in high school turn out "merely" "good" or "average."
I was surprised. Not only did she pick the book up, but that she actually kept at it for a week or two, carried it about, and read it to the finish. I was pretty confident she got something from it because ultimately the spine was broken and the cover mutilated - sure signs of her approval (her copy of the Golden Compass looks like the Dead Sea Scrolls). We haven't discussed it yet though. Sometimes the oblique approach is best in these matters.
Show More
author to cover each student from start to finish, rather than cutting and shuffling the deck. Or else, if skipping back and forth, to cover fewer students.Still, I thought the stories compelling and left the book lying about for my 13 year old granddaughter to find while resting from her apparent video game career. My thinking was that 1) she would be forewarned of falling into the overachiever trap (although that's not really a major concern) 2) she would see that superstudents weren't merely gifted, but worked like hell for the grades and 3) she would not feel defeated if her grades in high school turn out "merely" "good" or "average."
I was surprised. Not only did she pick the book up, but that she actually kept at it for a week or two, carried it about, and read it to the finish. I was pretty confident she got something from it because ultimately the spine was broken and the cover mutilated - sure signs of her approval (her copy of the Golden Compass looks like the Dead Sea Scrolls). We haven't discussed it yet though. Sometimes the oblique approach is best in these matters.
Show Less
LibraryThing member voracious
This was definately an interesting book, covering an important but overlooked cultural phenomenon. "Helicopter mothers" have taken over the last couple of generations of kids, protecting them from failure and pushing them harder to reach for status colleges like the Ivies. Protecting our kids from
Show More
failure, however, fails to teach kids important coping skills to deal with stress, at the same time we increase demands on their time with inordinate pressure to succeed. While I really enjoyed the topic, I thought this book was WAY TOO LONG and the points were exhausted way before the end of the book. I enjoyed the stories of the students the book followed, though I had a hard time keeping some of them separated, as they tended to be described objectively but not with emotion. This book could have used some serious editing, but overall, was good. Show Less
LibraryThing member yankeesfan1
The Overachievers This was a fascinating read, especially as a homeschooler getting ready to start college in the fall. The book really made me think about the constant resume padding that students do. The section on mental health issues that students are experiencing here and comparison to the
Show More
issues of students in Asia was scary and depressing. I found each of the students to be intriguing. I'm also now interested in reading Pledged by Robbins. Show Less
LibraryThing member ennie
Sometimes I read the College Confidential web site, and marvel at how crazed its college-obsessed students and parents can be. "The Overachievers" follows students at a suburban Maryland high school as they navigate the same waters. Makes me very glad to be an adult.
LibraryThing member TheLoisLevel
Last night I finished reading The Overachievers, by Alexandra Robbins, whic I have been wanting to read since it came out. In it, Robbins documents the lives of a group of high school juniors and seniors (along with one college freshman) . While I accept the validity of her basic argument: that
First, she rarely includes the parents' point of view, and I recall no interviews at all with teachers. While I understand that the particular teachers of the students in the book might be unwilling or unable to participate (for legal reasons), she includes profiles of people and events completely unrelated to the main narratives, and I think that teachers in similar situations to the students in the school could have provided important information. I'd be especially interested in what they have to say about the grade negotiating. Robbins also seems to forget that the teachers probably have between 125-150 students, not just the group she profiles.
She also missed the educator's perspective on how to make improvements. She is opposed to "No Child Left Behind" because of the test pressure, but she doesn't seem aware that this initiative has actually helped low-income schools with badly needed extra funding. She also doesn't seem aware of block scheduling in high schools, which helps students by making them responsible for fewer separate subjects each semester although she mentions a similar scheme as being a benefit of a particular college.
I would also like to have seen at least one student who was facing serious financial pressures in addition to academic pressures. I sometimes got a little impatient with students who ONLY had to worry about getting in an Ivy or other prestigious school and not at all about paying for it. Only one student came from a family not able (apparently) to shell out serious amounts of money for college. I realize that she has to establish her boundaries somewhere, but I think the lack of attention to the finances of colleges are a major shortcoming of the book.
In the end, if a book is judge by how thought-provoking it is, well, this one makes the grade.
Show More
track of a college-bound student is unnecessarily and unhealthily weighted by intense competition for class rankings and high test scores, she is blind to a couple of important issues. First, she rarely includes the parents' point of view, and I recall no interviews at all with teachers. While I understand that the particular teachers of the students in the book might be unwilling or unable to participate (for legal reasons), she includes profiles of people and events completely unrelated to the main narratives, and I think that teachers in similar situations to the students in the school could have provided important information. I'd be especially interested in what they have to say about the grade negotiating. Robbins also seems to forget that the teachers probably have between 125-150 students, not just the group she profiles.
She also missed the educator's perspective on how to make improvements. She is opposed to "No Child Left Behind" because of the test pressure, but she doesn't seem aware that this initiative has actually helped low-income schools with badly needed extra funding. She also doesn't seem aware of block scheduling in high schools, which helps students by making them responsible for fewer separate subjects each semester although she mentions a similar scheme as being a benefit of a particular college.
I would also like to have seen at least one student who was facing serious financial pressures in addition to academic pressures. I sometimes got a little impatient with students who ONLY had to worry about getting in an Ivy or other prestigious school and not at all about paying for it. Only one student came from a family not able (apparently) to shell out serious amounts of money for college. I realize that she has to establish her boundaries somewhere, but I think the lack of attention to the finances of colleges are a major shortcoming of the book.
In the end, if a book is judge by how thought-provoking it is, well, this one makes the grade.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KEriJ82
Interesting so far, but not totally absorbing.
LibraryThing member KamGeb
Very biased and negative on everyone except herself. Hard to read.
LibraryThing member ms_rowse
A must-read for any parent or teacher of teenagers, especially those parents who either knowingly or unwittingly pressure their child to be hyper-successful.
Language
Similar in this library
Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman
The Price of Admission: How America's Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges--and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates by Daniel Golden