What to Do in 9th Grade to get into Harvard

Byerly
Sun, 16 Apr 2006 13:22:54 +0000

Opal Mehta gets a favorable review from Japan, where the theme resonates.

"Younger readers will be able to relate to the characters and oldies will find echoes of their own school lives, albeit in an updated version.

Opal (who, like her creator, is the daughter of an Indian family living in the United States) is a brilliant high school student in New Jersey, preparing for graduation and her dream of attending Harvard. Her precociousness would appear to equip her perfectly for acceptance into such a prestigious institution, only to be told that she needs to complement her intellectual skills with lessons in life.

What follows is a refreshing insight into the life of an upper-middle-class teenager who methodically attempts to become cool and fashionable by hanging out with a bunch of vain and self-centered female classmates to make up for her years of academic single-mindedness…"

" … How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is good read that will amuse a wide audience, though younger readers especially will recognize the themes that are touched upon, whether they are native or nonnative speakers of English. Indeed, teenage students of English will find this an accessible novel that will challenge, inform and entertain in equal measure …"