The Ivy
Gr 9 Up–As one of the smartest students at her high school and a star soccer player, Callie Andrews is used to achieving everything that she sets her sights on, including acceptance to Harvard University. She leaves everything she loves–her parents, her best friend, her boyfriend–in California to follow her dreams in Massachusetts. There is a lot of smoking, drinking, drugs, and sex in the book; none of it is overly gratuitous and seems to fit in a story about kids leaving their adults behind to try their hand in the real world of higher education. Readers will get to know Callie as she navigates the tricky world of college with its rules (written and unwritten) regarding relationships, friendships, and memberships. Along the way, she deals with backstabbing best friends, upper-class girls who are out to get her, and feelings for a certain boy across the hall–not to mention that pesky sex tape that was made and distributed without her knowledge by her ex-boyfriend. This is a lighthearted and quirky read, and although the characters are a bit one-dimensional and an alcohol-poisoning situation is a bit glossed over, this is a good read for older teens.–Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR. (c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.