You have to read or re-read J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye. After digesting that American classic, then contrast it with Madeleine L'Engle's And Both Were Young. Girls will especially enjoy this book!
Fiction set in private schools is precisely that. Fiction. It does, however, help teenagers realize that they aren't alone and that others have been through similar experiences before them.
In this vein the Lessons For Lauren from the Riding Academy series of titles by Alison Hart makes brisk reading and is aimed at the age-group in question. Also try Christie and Company by Katherine Page Hall.
Additional young people's titles include:
- Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
- Deadly Secrets by David Belbin
- Missing the Piano by Adam Rapp
- School for Terror by Peter Beere
Don't miss Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep or Lorene Cary's Ice. Both are excellent novels.
