Fifteen 4: What Don't

by Susan Blake

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451141741
• ISBN13: 9780451141743
• Release Date: March 1986
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 156 Pages

Customer Reviews

Popularity And Friendship Are Two Different Things

"Fifteen" was a short lived series of young adult books published in the mid eighties. The books were written by different authors, and loosely tied together by having the characters in each book attend the same high school. The protaganist was always a fifteen year old girl facing universal adolescent problems such as fitting in, crushes on boys, relationships with parents, and self image. There were only six books in the series, which is a shame because they were always interesting and well written. "What They Don't Teach You In Jr. High" is the story of Betsy, a big fish in the small pond of her middle school, who is preparing to enter high school. She expects a smooth transition, despite the fact that new zoning regulations have resulted in most of her old friends attending a different school. After all, she was so popular in ninth grade that she's sure to be just as important in high school. She eagerly anticipates the first day of school and stepping into her expected role of big woman on campus. But it doesn't take long for Betsy to see that things are different in her new school. There are many funny moments as Betsy tries desperately to get in with the "right" crowd, failing miserably at each attempt. With the help of her "geeky" older brother, Betsy slowly begins to realize that there are a lot of people worth knowing at her new school, even if they aren't part of the in crowd. This is a good story of a young girl learning that popularity and friendship are two different things. I must mention one plot element that really bothered me, from the first time I read this story as a fifteen year old: The school musical! Apparently, the author did not know her musical theater, because she had these high schoolers putting on a production of "Cats". First of all, at the time this book was written, "Cats" had been around for about two years and was still setting records for selling out tickets (kind of like "The Producers" today)- hardly a likely high school show. Secondly, she refers to students landing speaking parts or singing in the chorus - neither of which exist in "Cats". And why on earth would high schoolers be asked to audition by reading scenes from Shakespeare? I realize someone not familiar with theater probably wouldn't care, but it annoyed me! :-) My other complaint was that Betsy was not as likeable as the other "Fifteen" characters. That didn't detract from the story - in fact I remember feeling a bit smug when she goofed in her attempts to impress, so maybe that wasn't a bad thing! Overall, a worthwhile read, and I recommend it along with the other books in the "Fifteen" series.