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Surviving High School

Reviewed by Matt Rowe.

This book is very clearly aimed at the UK equivalent of children preparing to start secondary school or year 7. I say equivalent because this book is written mainly with the US educational system in mind, but nonetheless most of the subjects covered within the book are just as relevant here in the UK today.

I found the first few chapters interesting, but I did wonder whether there was a risk of this book making children even more scared than they already were beforehand. However, as the book progressed, it went on to helpfully make the reader consider topics such as self-awareness and pressures relating to their physicality, sociability, spirituality as well as sex and relationships.

I would recommend this book for children who want to get an insight into what year 7 might be like in comparison to primary school. It is written appropriately and covers relevant topics. However, I would also recommend that parents read this book first, or at least glance over it.

I found it helpful to read about some of the pressures that children face today that I didn’t face when I was that age. One prime example of this is the pressures of exposure to technology that is so accessible to children today. One of the main strengths of this book is that it talks about issues such as social networking, mobile pornography and even sexting.