Prep (Junior Library Guild Selection) [Hardcover]

Jake Coburn (Author)

Book Description

Series: Junior Library Guild Selection | Publication Date: September 15, 2003

Nick and his friends have every advantage: expensive clothes, beautiful homes in Manhattan, peerless private-school educations. However, beneath the picture-perfect veneer lies a violent subculture that is gritty and dangerous, with binge drinking, heavy drug use, casual sex, vandalism, and gangs. Nick is in love with his best friend, Kris, and imagines a future with her outside the violence of their circle. When Kris's younger brother becomes a gang target, Nick is compelled to navigate the complex politics of the prep world, come to terms with his past gang experience, and put his own life at risk. Brutally realistic, Prep is a powerful, gripping exposé of America's most affluent youth.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up-This novel focuses squarely on the world of Manhattan prep-school teens with too much money, too little family, and too few morals. These young men beat and cut one another for fun, territory, or girls, and generally use violence to gain reputations, power, and control. Nick, a famous ex-tagger, is haunted by the memory of the knife that nearly killed his friend Kodak, and ignores the recruiting efforts of various gang members. He is secretly in love with his best friend, Kris. When her younger brother gets in trouble, Nick tries to intercede and is once again drawn into the gang circle, though he's not sure that he's ready to fight. Prep does an excellent job of revealing the darker side of growing up rich, including drugs, easy sex, and drinking. Coburn's brief sentences and often-raw gang slang create a cadence and reflect the movement of the novel through four suspenseful days. While some of the gang members seem to be from central casting, the main characters are exceptionally well drawn and sympathetic.
Gail Richmond, San Diego Unified Schools, CA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. The staccato rhythm of Coburn's prose is the best part of this tale of Manhattan prep-school gangsters. Coburn, himself a prep-school graduate, sheds light on a fascinating subculture of privileged teens who lack for nothing save their parents' attention. Nick is in love with Kris, whose younger brother, Danny, is being threatened by a gang. To save Danny, Nick calls on friends from his tagging (graffiti) days and, in doing so, faces difficult memories of his own cowardice. There is a fair amount of action, but what pulls readers along is the language. Realistic, slang-filled dialogue and short, crisp narrative passages create a minimalist world of frenetic gang warfare, substance abuse, and wild parties that become nightmares. Debbie Carton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525471359
• ISBN-13: 978-0525471356
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,673,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpeice, August 14, 2005

By 

Miss Rose (ILLINOIS, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prep (Paperback)

This book is great for ppl of all ages. It gives you a look at what's underneath the preppy private-school world. It takes you to a place of parties, drugs, casual, sex, and gangs. Nick is trying to change his old habbits after a bad accident with one of his friends. Yet still in this crazy world he manages to fall for his best friend. And when her brother becomes a gang target he finds himself in the middle of it all. Jake Coburn creates a world full of lies, drama, danger, and suspense. Although it was short, it is a book that will leave you in thought. It Makes you think about the lives of the privileged while also creating a dramatic Manhatten theme.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brighter Lights, Bigger City, November 20, 2003

By 

David Schleicher (Cambridge, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prep (Junior Library Guild Selection) (Hardcover)

Not since the early novels of Jay McInerney and Bret Easton-Ellis has anyone been able to capture the way New York preys on its young. Though his subjects are younger, these writers are Coburn's peers, and he out does them. Their books, like this one, are smart, pacy and witty, but this book has something more: heart. Jake Coburn has done more than make over-privileged new york city prep school kids seem interesting, he has made them human.

Oh, and don't worry that it is aimed at young adults. Though its admirable clarity makes it accessible to younger readers, this is a book that can, and should, be enjoyed by anyone interested in contemporary fiction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Being Back in NYC, November 19, 2003

By 

"cortasu" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prep (Junior Library Guild Selection) (Hardcover)

Having grown up and attended one of the NYC private schools, this book was like a trip down memory lane. Jake Coburn's writing makes the reader feel as if they are actually right there alongside the main characters. One of the better books that I have read this year. Highly recommend PREP to those who grew up in NYC or to those who want to see what a modern day Holden Caulfield would be like. A must read.