M. Doty

Emily Kessler feels more than the usual pressures upon starting high school. Not only does she heave a new school to navigate, all honors classes to manage, a new social world to maneuver through, and cute boys to crush on, she also has her swimming.

Emily is all about swimming and has been for as long as she can remember. It's going to take everything she has - all her focus, a deeply regimented sleep schedule and diet - to be her best, the best and live up to the standards left behind by her older sister Sara.

But will even all of that be enough to make it against everything high school has to throw at her? Against Dominique, not only Emily's toughest competition in the pool but also her all-around mean girl and toughest competition for the boy who just might distract Emily from swimming?

That boy, adorable and popular Ben Kale, is everything Emily's been told to steer clear of. With Ben in the picture, Emily thinks being not all about swimming might not be such a bad thing.

Can Emily find out what it is she really wants, what makes her happy - and survive high school?


M. Doty's Surviving High School is a fun and cute contemporary that adds in just enough drama and seriousness to keep the characters real and the action compelling. Emily Kessler is starting high school as the novel opens. She's not, though, that worried about the new school year - at least not for the obvious reason.

With only one real friend, Emily isn't worried about who she has classes with or even which classes she does have. She's more concerned with avoiding the boy who was involved with her sister's recent death and keeping her swimming above par.

The added elements of Emily's swimming - and the need for it to be top notch - and her need to live up to her sister (whilst also missing her), gave the book some depth. As did Emily's relationship with her father who was also her swimming coach. Their relationship was contentious and trying, but the author kept it from being flat - you could see there was more there.

In the beginning of the novel, Emily did almost feel like a different character from one section to the next - or at least in alternating parts she felt like two different characters. When she was with her friend, Kimi, she felt like a freshman but when she was swimming or with her family, she felt like and older, almost upperclassman character.

Once I got into things - or connected with Emily more, she didn't seem as divergent. More like a young girl who wanted to have fun but also took her swimming incredibly seriously. I'm not sure if it takes time to connect with Emily and her personality or if she becomes more settled as the book progresses.

The progression of both Emily's character and her different relationships did feel very real. They sometimes left me wanting her to make different decisions, be more responsible or think things through a little more-slash-better-slash-differently, but that's what made it feel real in the end. If she'd made perfect choices, done everything right and come through unscathed, she wouldn't have felt like a ninth grader.

Surviving High School is a fun, contemporary read that is light but not too light.



egalley received from LBYR through NetGalley… (mais)

Awww, to be back in high school again. This story definitely puts me back to when I was freshmen in school. So scared out of my whits with an unknown future. Surviving High School places the reader in the shoes of Emily. Who's future is uncertain....

What really hooked me about this book is plot. The reader gets a chance to step into the world of high school! Cliques, cute boys, best friends and of course drama. I really like the build of Emily's life. She lost so much the past year and is barely regaining back her footing. She faced with hard decisions to whether or not follow in her sisters shoes or go her own way.

The love interest in the book really went somewhere where I thought it wouldn't go. I was for sure it go the other way but surprisingly I like the way it went. The author did a great job in not taking the traditional route in YA books, but going her own way. The way it would have happen in real life. A lot of what happen with the love interest I could relate too. I like that their love grew slow and wasn't all so serious. They like each other and form a great friendship.

Surviving High School has more heart than other YA books. It's realistic and prevails till the end. The author is creative in seeking such a story with passion and heartache. Surviving High School is solid in what being a freshmen in high school is like. Haunted by the past, your future laid out for you...what do you choose do to? Surviving High School is well done!… (mais)

Review originally posted on my blog http://hobbitsies.net/2012/09/surviving-high-school-by-m-doty/

Surviving High School by M. Doty was an interesting read for me and I definitely enjoyed it. I was concerned at first because the back of the book says it’s based on a mobile game and I wasn’t really sure what depth Surviving High School would bring. I just don’t have a lot of confidence that a game for phones can truly bring across the emotional aspects of losing your sister.

And Surviving High School, while not the sort of typically fluffy and hilarious book that I’ve come to expect from YA contemps involving freshman year, definitely did the grief in a lighter sort of tone. Rather than focusing on how Emily really felt about the loss of her sister (although there were certainly moments where she was clearly grieving), a lot of it was Emily trying to discover what really happened the night her sister died and also showing everyone that she’s not her sister. If any of that makes sense.

But Surviving High School certainly packed an emotional punch. I loved the way Emily’s relationship with her father was done – the strains in their bond was so clear and so upsetting and I really felt for Emily every time her dad acted like he was just her Coach, even at home. For me their relationship was the biggest part of Surviving High School and I really liked how it was handled throughout the story.

And, of course, there’s the romance. The romance in Surviving High School was very sweet and I was really rooting for Emily to stick it to her parents and go out with Ben. I didn’t see a huge connection developing between them at first, it kind of just happened, but even still, I really liked them together.

Overall, Surviving High School by M. Doty is certainly an enjoyable contemp that made laugh but still had a lot of depth to it. There’s a lot of little life lessons in Surviving High School, but I thought the focus on family was done perfectly. I recommend Surviving High School to fans of contemps looking for an engrossing but quick read., and I’ll certainly be reading the second book in this series, based on Emily’s best friend.… (mais)