[.ca] Wonderland: A Year in the Life of an American High School (ISBN 0802141978)

couldn't have said it better:
No matter where you are from or what high school you went to, everyone can relate to this book. I very recently graduated from high school (class of '03, the same year as the kids in the book) and just happened upon this book at the airport. Before I even landed at my destination, I had finished it. The people in this story are the same characters at every high school. Every school has it's jocks and it's preps and it's preverbial screw-ups. Bambarger did an amazing job of capturing high school as it is lived, even if the prom at the end of the year is the climax. High school even only having been gone a year now, seems like another lifetime and after reading this book it seems like just yesterday I was preparing for my five day prom. Pick it up, I promise you'll love it as much as I did.

EXCELLENT.:
This book is great. It should be on everyone's summer reading list.

An Honest Author:
This book is honest and very real. It reflects the lives of kids everywhere in middle class America. I went to this school 24 years ago and I felt like i just left....Great Job! After living in LA for years, it is refreshing to see an honest and objective account of the lives of real people.

A very good story:
Sure this book is about a particular High School, in a particular place and time. But it could be about your High School, and it could be about when you went to High School. I graduated from High School almost thirty years ago. Mr. Bamberger makes the characters come alive, the names may change but all high schools have the same characters. It was a trip down memory lane for me. I was the AV geek in high school, and daydreamed about the hot mysterious blonde babe who I later came to know. Was this, or is this a special High School? No, it is a very ordinary High School in a very ordinary place. It is a story about people that all of us have known. It is a story about a place that all of us have been to, and yes there is something about a prom. This book now sits on the shelf next to my yearbook. You see, I spent 2 years in "The ROCK" they call Pennsbury High. Jim Cunningham was my Social Studies teacher, and the mere mention of his name makes my left ear twinge. I am a proud graduate of the class of '75. Am I just a little prejudiced? Buy the book and find out for yourself.

"Wonder" Boys and Girls:
WONDERLAND by Michael Bamberger follows the lives and loves at a Pennsylvania high school for a year. He profiles not just the students but some of the teachers and parents as well as the principal. There are the popular kids; the audio/visual boys; the jocks, both female and male; the Homecoming Queen; the teen parents; all sharing their experiences. The title is two-fold. The book begins with a passage by Lewis Carroll, whose classic work Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a coming-of-age tale in its own right. One of the boys profiled in this work attempts to get John Mayer, the singer / songwriter / guitarist, to perform at their school prom. Mayer has a song entitled "Your Body is a Wonderland." It is interesting to note that the student body had an interest in Mayer prior to his winning Grammy awards; in fact, the book shows his rise to fame over the course of the school year, as well as the band Maroon 5. Happily, the focus of the book is not on songwriters or pop culture, but the experiences of teens. They offer drama, comedy and tragedy. Such is real life. Wonderland is a very quick read and worth picking up. Never invasive, never an expose, this book tells it how it is. The writer never judges the actions of the teens; he lets their actions speak for themselves. Each chapter is named after a month, September through May. I would have liked to have read more about finals and graduation, rather than cutting off after the prom in May. However, I liked the last bit wrapping up what happened the summer and fall after the school year, and the fact that the author tied it into his own past and present experiences. This study of a year in the life of high school students to shows that, when you get down to it, teenagers across the nation have more in common than they might think. Not only that, but it will appeal to all ages, because many of the same hobbies, goals, hopes, fears, loves and losses of the present generation are those of generations past.