The Ivy

✍ Scribed by Kunze, Lauren; Onur, Rina

• Book ID: 108608226
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 963 KB
• Series: The Ivy 1
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780061960451

✦ Synopsis

Congratulations! You have been admitted to the most prestigious university in the world. Now what are you going to do?

Callie Andrews may not have money or connections or the right clothes, and she may have way too many complications in her love life, what with—

Gregory
the guy she loves to hate

Evan
the guy she'd love to forget

Clint
the guy she'd love to love

and Matt
the guy she really should love

—all vying for her attention.

But she has three fantastic roommates (best friends or her worst nightmare?) and a wholesome California-girl reputation (oops) and brains and beauty and big, big dreams.

Will it be enough to help her survive freshman year at Harvard?

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up–As one of the smartest students at her high school and a star soccer player, Callie Andrews is used to achieving everything that she sets her sights on, including acceptance to Harvard University. She leaves everything she loves–her parents, her best friend, her boyfriend–in California to follow her dreams in Massachusetts. There is a lot of smoking, drinking, drugs, and sex in the book; none of it is overly gratuitous and seems to fit in a story about kids leaving their adults behind to try their hand in the real world of higher education. Readers will get to know Callie as she navigates the tricky world of college with its rules (written and unwritten) regarding relationships, friendships, and memberships. Along the way, she deals with backstabbing best friends, upper-class girls who are out to get her, and feelings for a certain boy across the hall–not to mention that pesky sex tape that was made and distributed without her knowledge by her ex-boyfriend. This is a lighthearted and quirky read, and although the characters are a bit one-dimensional and an alcohol-poisoning situation is a bit glossed over, this is a good read for older teens.–Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Two Harvard grads examine the lighter side of higher education in a frothy debut that makes college out to be just a higher-stakes round of high school. California girl Callie doesn’t fit in with the labeled legacies that make up most of the snooty student body. Her more worldly roommates introduce her to the exclusive social scene, which seems to take up more time than actual classes. What they don’t know is that Callie is hiding a scandalous secret that could ruin her new rep forever if discovered. Unfortunately, mean girl Alexis is determined to dig up that dirt, especially since her hot ex has fallen hard for Callie. The cliff-hanging ending indicates that the race for popularity has only been put on pause. Gossip Girls and A-Listers will enjoy the bonding, backstabbing, and sneak peek into some of Harvard’s secret social clubs, but the conspicuous lack of collegiate activity, other than dating and drinking, may leave readers, especially those striving for high-scoring SATs, wondering what makes an Ivy so different from State U. Grades 9-12. --Jennifer Hubert