The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

Given that I have been out of school for a few decades and have a new freshman and 8th grader under my roof, I found this book very interesting. Also, given that I live close to New Trier and several other high schools that compete in reputation with New Trier, I find myself increasingly thankful I did not move to those school districts and chose to stay in a school district with a 25% immigrant population - after all, shouldn't my kids experience real life in America? Kids at their high school still go to college and many of them fine ones, but it amazes me how many parents move to the next high school district before their kids start high school thinking that it will somehow make their kids smarter. A parent whose daughter attends the acclaimed and overly large Stevenson High School, the next school south of me, told my husband that his daughter is close to a 4.0 yet is only in the top 35% of her class. He said it was great for his home's property value, but he now regrets that his daughter has not had a normal high school experience. This book has made me think very clearly about how to maintain a balance between grades but making sure my kids enjoy themselves as well. I found myself caring about the characters and hoping they turn out ok. I hope you continue character updates on your website.

I'm not a big non-fiction reader, but this book drew me in. I was actually so impressed that I e-mailed the author. She responded with a very thoughtful message, but that's not why this is a five-star review.I don't like to admit this, because I'm usually pretty sarcastic, but this book made me cry. It's true to my experience as a high school student in 2003-2007, and I really felt for the characters. There's a belief in this country that the problems with education can be fixed by piling more work, more pressure on our adolescents. That doesn't work. I mean, unless your idea of "fixed" is "completely burned out on education", in which case, yeah, things are great.We're teaching our teenagers that they need to work themselves to death to fulfill Ivy League standards, when they can get into a college, a GOOD college, and still get scholarships, with a lot less than perfection. Kids have no time to learn, and that's *without* taking into account the jobs and extracurriculars. Robbins understands and conveys this all very well, through her characters' stories and through the straight non-fiction segments spread throughout the book. It all comes together to illustrate to the reader just how serious this educational obsession is in our culture.I wish I had read this book, and made my parents read it, when I was still in high school. It would have done wonders for my mental health. I bought it for my 14-year-old cousin who started high school this fall so that hopefully she can avoid the madness.This review doesn't even begin to express how much I love this book, but I am so grateful to Ms. Robbins for writing it.

As the parent of a high school student who works very hard and is seldom truly satisfied with her academic performance, I can at least breathe a sigh of relief that she doesn't fall into the official category of an overachiever. Still, the stories of these students drew me in as both an objective and subjective observer. These kids and their stories are emotionally riveting and I found myself caring a great deal about each of them -- and as a parent also worrying not just a little bit about their physical, mental and emotional health -- and holding my breath in the hope that each student would truly achieve his or her goals without completely breaking down. I did find myself getting a little impatient with some of the students' various and too-numerous extra-curricular activities. Supposedly, colleges are looking at a student's quality of life outside the classroom as well as in the classroom, but in the end, most of these activities seemed to do more harm than good. One of the students still did not get into her 1st choice school in spite of her busy life outside the classroom, and for the rest, the vast majority of those outside activities didn't figure significantly into the final outcomes. In fact, APFrank's story should show that a lot of outside activities are not all that necessary in the end. Most of the kids were not able to adequately cope with all their activities, missing classes, turning homework in late, failing exams, even; yet not one parent or counselor steps forward and says "Enough is enough." Their parents really dropped the ball in this instance.I did think the sampling of students was far too narrow, and I wished she had explored more in depth other high schools, both public and private. There are super-driven kids out there who don't have the same IQ power, or the same access to academic, financial and political resources these Whitman students do. I am certainly interested in knowing how less-fortunate students compensate and adjust their goals and expectations. OTOH, by choosing to follow a fewer number of students and in an environment with which she was much more familiar, Ms. Robbins is able to communicate her understanding and empathy and go into more depth behind-the-scenes with their individual stories. To be fair, she does choose quite a few different types of students, those who are driven from within and those who are pressured by outside expectations. Unfortunately, the follow-ups on the students' post high school lives that Ms. Robbins claims is available on her website are missing. She may have had very good intentions as the book went to press, but she was unable to deliver. There is only one student follow up available on her website.Still, I think it's a mistake to assume that super-driven, overachieving students is some kind of current "epidemic." There are no more of these obsessive students now than there were 30 years ago when I was in high school. I knew quite a few of them, even if I wasn't one myself. What makes their stories stand out more now is the fact that more kids are attending college now than ever have in the past, and as a result, colleges and universities at all levels have become more expensive and more selective than ever. Actually, I think the LACK of performance-oriented achievers is a bigger concern. Too many kids these days think that they deserve high academic rewards for little or no work whatever. The kids feel entitled to top grades simply because they show up for class (and sometimes, even when they don't,) and not because they put in any effort to earn them.Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed this story at its face value and recommend it as interesting information. I have enjoyed several of Ms. Robbins other books as well and I intend to read the rest of them.

This book was a fascinating look into the lives of a number of high school students (and one college freshman). I could not put it down. It was a real page-turner. It was also the best book about the new high-stress culture that affects many young people and their schools. As both a parent and a high school teacher, this was as important and helpful a book as I have ever read. This should be required reading for any parent or educator! While there were some generalizations made from anecdotal evidence, the stories are real and the kids come alive on these pages. Very important questions and concerns are raised, and the authors provides many excellent ideas on how we can improve the quality of lives of young people. Even if you are not a parent or teacher, the stories of these young people will fascinate you. I rate this a 5+!

The narrative gets boring and predictable after a while. Some psychological analysis of their behaviours would have been welcome.