{"product_id":"prep-9780812972351","title":"Prep","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER - A modern classic of adolescent angst and ambition set in the world of prep school, from the author of \u003ci\u003eRomantic Comedy \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eEligible\u003c\/i\u003e--\"a tart and complex tale of social class, race, and gender politics\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e's Ten Best Books of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when her father drops her off in front of her dorm at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. She leaves her animated, affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, at least in part because of the boarding school's glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls in kilts hold lacrosse sticks on pristinely mown athletic fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs Lee soon learns, Ault is a cloistered world of jaded, attractive teenagers who spend summers on Nantucket and speak in their own clever shorthand. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of--and, ultimately, a participant in--their rituals and mores. As a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider and is both drawn to and repelled by other loners. By the time she's a senior, Lee has created a hard-won place for herself at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her carefully crafted identity within the community is shattered. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUltimately, Lee's experiences--complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant--coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCurtis Sittenfeld\u003c\/b\u003e is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of the novels \u003ci\u003ePrep, The Man of My Dreams, American Wife, Sisterland, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eEligible, \u003c\/i\u003e and the story collection \u003ci\u003eYou Think It, I'll Say It, \u003c\/i\u003ewhich have been translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker, The Washington Post Magazine, Esquire, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, of which she was the 2020 guest editor.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eHer nonfiction has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, The Atlantic, Time, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair, \u003c\/i\u003e and on public radio's \u003ci\u003eThis American Life\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Trade","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50614449275154,"sku":"9780812972351","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2e4c504e-b4a1-4657-8f8c-ac4b0020f479.jpg?v=1732444661","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/prep-9780812972351","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}