Crunch Time (review)
2006; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 59; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2006.0124
ISSN1558-6766
Autores ResumoReviewed by: Crunch Time Deborah Stevenson Fredericks, Mariah Crunch Time. Jackson/Atheneum, 2006 [336p] ISBN 0-689-86938-X$15.95 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-10 Leo's a chick-magnet high-achiever, determined to go to Yale despite his father's recent rejection of all traditional goals; Daisy is a cool, easygoing basketball player who must get financial aid to attend college; Max is Daisy's brainy best friend, writing for the newspaper and never quite measuring up to his father's expectations; Jane is the shy, nearly invisible daughter of a world-famous actress. This unlikely quartet rejects a poorly run SAT study group and starts their own, with some significant social results—Daisy rejects Max romantically and embarks on a relationship with Leo, while Jane revels in her new friends. The academic results are harder to quantify, since following the announcement of the test scores, it's discovered that one examinee, identity unknown, sent in a high-scoring imposter to take his or her test, calling into question everyone's results, especially those of high-scoring, freewheeling Leo. This doesn't have the sparkle or the savvy of Fredericks' prior works; the Breakfast Club setup is contrived, and the outcome of the test-cheating plot—Jane did it—lacks effective exploration (as do other aspects of Jane's character). This is nonetheless a perceptive and sympathetic examination of the hothouse intensity of college-entrance prep (and Fredericks is up to date on the new SAT scoring): the godlike role of the school's college counselor (whose mysterious summoning pattern turns out to be merely alphabetical), the weight of parental pressures, and the frustration with the consequences of one comparatively [End Page 262] small test are all treated with thoughtful understanding. Readers just starting down that slippery slope will likely find commiseration here. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Referência(s)