Schoold by Schooled? I hardly think so.

After reading Schooled by Anisha Lakhani, I felt like I should lather on some more sunscreen, readjust my  towel and take in the sounds of the waves because this was a book that normally, I would only choose to read on the beach.  Lakhani's representation of an elite New York City prep school missed the mark for me, and I found it hard to get through.  I couldn't help but wonder, however, that maybe some of the reason I found this book so repulsive was the fact that she was writing about some harsh truths regarding "elite schooling" that I wasn't about to fess up to.  As a former boarding school student, sometimes reading about obnoxiously preppy students and extremely wealthy parents always makes me uncomfortable because the truth is, those people were and still are some of my friends.

What I did find completely off was the way in which Lakhani represented Anna and her obsession with wealth.  Do people like Anna actually exist?  I think that she contradicted herself throughout the entire novel starting with her desire to help the students and then plagiarizing for them.  She talks about how she wants to live a simpler lifestyle, but then complains about the fact that she "only has $1500 in her bank account."  I just found Anna impossible to relate to, and horribly annoying.  I have to say that yes, some of the things the Lakhani wrote about were true (whether I liked it or not)  but her over all message really just wasn't for me (or the majority of our class, so it seems.)