Class of '88: Freshman
Class of '88: Freshmanby Linda A. Cooney
Five friends. Nick, the golden boy, Celia the beautiful, Sean the thinker, Allie the wild, Meg the brave.Brand-new Redwood High holds a different promise for each of them. Celia could be popular for the first time in her life -- if she stops being Allie's best friend. Nick could be a campus star -- but only if he plays by someone else's rules...rules that don't include Sean. Meg has a chance to be a leader... and to be passed over by the boy she loves.Together, they could have faced anything. But after Freshman year, they may never be together again. (transcribed from back of the book)
I needed something to distract me from To Kill a Mockingbird that wasn't going to completely distract me so that I didn't finish it. This is a book series that I read, and adored when I was 10-12 years old. I have finally managed to complete the series through bookmooch and ebay to replace the books that were given away years ago (accidentally).I can honestly say that even when I was a kid I didn't like realistic fiction. My tastes were always towards the magical and fantastical. So why would I have read a series about 5 kids starting high school? It's easy, I was drawn to the title of the series.Class of '88.Because I, too, was a Class of '88. Only not from high school but from elementary school. (Side note: Quebec school system is this - Elementary K-6, High School 7-11, CEGEP 2-3 years before University.) In 1988 I graduated from grade 6 and was ready to go off to high school!I must have bought these books in the summer, because it's the only time I can recall buying books. We would have been on vacation at the time at our trailer in up state New York. I remember going to Walden Books. Oh, the memories! That's where I discovered this series I am sure, but most importantly it was in that Walden Books that I discovered L. J. Smith's Secret Circle books. Oh, the bliss!As this book was published in 1987 (per the inside cover) I must have got them the summer before I entered the sixth grade. And it wasn't until I re-read the book last night that I realized - if they were the class of '88 then they must have started their Freshman year in 1984! I don't know why I didn't realize that when I was 11. ;)The 80's pop culture references are amazing. Allie gets excited when the theme to Family Ties comes on (I was in love with that show AND with Michael J. Fox), one of the "mean girls" wears multiple Swatch watches on one arm (I so remember that fad - and never understood it!). When two of the friends start discussing they'd rather be someone other than who they are, the girl chooses Molly Ringwald and the boy chooses Michael J. Fox.Reading this book now, at 34 (oh, gods, that's over 20 years after I read it the first time!) makes me feel nostalgic for the 80s even though I did have a miserable experience for most of it.Also, reading the book again was sort of like reading it for the first time with a strong sense of deja-vu. I had forgotten much of what happened in the story until I started reading and thought, "Oh, yeah! They make that haunted house and Allie meet a Sophomore guy who tries to impress her by saying he can drive her to the dance!" Or, "Right! Whitney was only using Celia to get to Nick!"I don't know why I care so much about the lives of these 5 teens who were obviously older than I was when I started reading the series, but I did. And it seems I still do.I think after every couple of chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird (which I am STILL confusing with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which I am STILL confusing with Of Mice and Men) I shall read another high school year of these 5 friends. It's a nice way to break up the slow goings of Scout and Jem and it's a nice reminder of summers that were spent sitting by Lake Champlain reading a book.Class of '88