The New Rules of High School

by Blake Nelson

Overview

Max is the consummate high school overachiever. Straight-A student, debate team captain, future editor of the school paper, dutiful Max does what's expected, until the day he inexplicably breaks up with Cindy, his perfect girlfriend. Is their relationship too much to handle on top of everything else? Or is Max just tired of doing everything he's supposed to? As Max begins to question his life, all of the old rules dissolve—and he searches in some very unlikely places for new ones.

"Nelson, it seems, possesses that peculiar and particular ability, granted to only a few—the Judy Blumes and J. D. Salingers of this world—to accurately portray the mysterious inner life of the American teenager."
—Time Out New York

"Fiercely real and really fierce."
—Daniel Handler (aka "Lemony Snicket")

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101562741
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/09/2004
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	398 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Blake grew up in Portland, Oregon.

His first love was books but he spent several years in his teens and twenties playing in bands.

Blake's first writing job was at Details magazine, where he wrote short humor pieces on the slacker lifestyle. His fiction remained unpublished until Sassy Magazine (cool girl magazine from the 90s) began publishing excerpts from his first novel.

These excerpts generated enough response to get his first novel GIRL published by Simon and Schuster. GIRL (1994) has since been translated into six foreign languages and was made into a feature film.

After GIRL, Blake published two more adult novels, EXILE (1997) and USER (2001). In 2003 he decided to try a Young Adult novel, (a book specifically for teens) and wrote THE NEW RULES OF HIGH SCHOOL. Since then he has published five YA novels, NEW RULES, ROCKSTAR SUPERSTAR, PROM ANONYMOUS, GENDER BLENDER, and PARANOID PARK.

His books have won numerous awards and continue to be translated around the world. A TV movie for GENDER BLENDER is currently in development at Nickelodeon. And PARANOID PARK, is being made into a film by Gus Van Sant and MK2 Productions.

Blake Nelson currently lives with his wife in Brooklyn, NY.

Editorial Reviews

Max, a senior, makes excellent grades and achieves everything he tries. But something is not right-in his relationship with the "perfect" girlfriend and with himself. In a starred review, PW called this "an especially mature and incisive look inside the heart of a teenager who believes that he might already have seen the best that life and love have to offer." Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 8 Up-Max heads toward his senior year with everything he could ever want: he's been named editor-in-chief of the newspaper and debate-team captain, he has great grades, and a beautiful girlfriend. Life gets a little out of whack when the overachiever breaks up with Cindy for no apparent reason. The taste of freedom is sweet for a while but things get complicated when an overbearing, boy-crazy freshman throws herself at him at a party and conveniently lands a job as columnist on the school paper. Her controversial column, "The New Rules of High School," puts the Owl's popularity over the top, forcing Max into an uncomfortable mentorship. As the year progresses, this relationship improves as other friendships suffer through Max's growing pains. Largely dialogue driven, the story evolves from various characters' interactions and conversations with Max. His younger sister, Drea, is the information maven, not only for her own grade but for the high school as well, and she takes on an amusing role as her brother's romantic advisor. Whether Max is grieving over his breakup or testing the waters of singledom, readers are empathetic to his emotional vulnerability. The novel involves a wide variety of high school types-the punks, nerds, jocks, etc.-and successfully reflects the ambivalence in which they coexist. The teenage voice is dead-on, and Max pulls readers by the hand, right into his world, without missing a beat.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Narrator Max Caldwell is editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, and in his account of his last year in high school, his voice sounds appropriately like a journalist. He reports on what he does and who he encounters, leaving it to the reader to piece together why Max is sabotaging his own success. Dropping his "perfect" girlfriend, jeopardizing his closest friendship, and drinking too much are a few of the ways Max copes with his demanding family life and Ivy League goals. Nelson skillfully reveals Max's character and problems in "show-don't-tell" style, painting a convincing portrait of suburban high-school students and their social and sexual concerns. Even secondary characters like Max's younger sister have a realistic complexity. Readers will recognize, if not themselves, fellow students like Max who lose their bearings while trying to fulfill everyone else's expectations. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews