Laurinda is the latest book from my online book club.
It's written in the form of a letter, and I do really love a book written this way. The main character is Lucy Lam, an asian girl in Melbourne who wins a scholarship to the prestigious Ladies College, Laurinda.
The book then follows through the difficulties in being the scholarship student in a school where students generally have little understanding of what life might be like without the priviledge they were born to.
The story shows well the way that girls can be calculating and awful and undermining, but also how rich parents can have a great level of say in the marks their children receive at school.
Lucy navigates her year through the troubles of trying to fit in to a school that her parents and friends can not even imagine, and trying to hide her real life and family from her new friends.
I really enjoyed this book, it is written for Young Adults and would be appropriate for any teenager to read. It's far from a great book. Lucy seems a little too emotionally intelligent for me, she seems to be the one teenager that can see what all the else can't. Lucy's old school also seems to be seen through rose coloured glasses, a Catholic school in a poor area, Lucy seems to refer to it as a perfect way to spend your teenage years, as long as you were not after academic success of course, but all else seemed pretty good.
The ending rounds out the book in a fairly expected way, I am guessing this is because the audience for the book is younger readers. It wasn't disappointing to me as it seemed a nice way to finish up, but experienced readers who like a meaty ending may find it lacking.
If I was handing out stars, I would give this 4 out of 5.
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