Private
Private is the story of a small town girl’s journey through one of the nation’s best boarding schools, Easton Academy. This academy is a place where wealthy parents send their kids off to school. Reed Brennan has just gotten accepted to the prestigious school on a scholarship program. She can’t wait to get out of the small town she calls home, and she is ready to leave her drug addicted mom. She is excited to start a new life at Easton, so she can go to a great college. She knows it will be difficult to be all alone in a new environment, but her first night in her dorm room she sees something out her window, a group of beautiful girls in a beautiful dorm. Then she knows exactly what she wants to be at Easton, a Billings Girl.
For the past couple of months I have been intrigued by the book Private and the rest of the series. The day I picked up the book out of my older sister’s drawer I thought this book was just going to be like all the rest of the teenage girl books these days. But this book was better than I thought. After I reached the twentieth page of the first book Private, I felt I was right there with Reed Brennan at Easton Academy. I could feel her struggles as a new girl in a very different environment, and could feel her pain with a mother who doesn’t truly love her. I knew immediately that this book was going to change the way I read.

I really connected with Reed; I could see that we were a lot alike. We both like to play sports, make good grades, and have fun with our siblings. Reed’s life really changed my own life after reading her story. It really showed me what life is really about when you think you have it all. It showed me that when you look at celebrities that have fame, money, and wealth you should think another way about them. Everyone thinks they have a perfect life, but they really don’t, you as a viewer of that person can only see the outer shell. You can’t really see their inside. They are just like us they have struggles, but their struggles are different. So never blame someone for something when you have never been in their shoes.

The book was mostly about popularity, and what people do to get there. Reed figures out what it is like to get to the top of the crowd. When she becomes a Billings girl it is not what she expected. It showed me that even though you are popular, it doesn’t mean you get everything, and that life is not perfect. Reed figured out that there are many things that people don’t see in the Billings girl’s life like drugs, alcohol and even death. This idea of popularity helped me understand that popularity is not the most important. Every girl wants to be noticed, some girls more than others. The Private Series made me become less self-conscious about being popular and at the top of my school. And it helped me learn what the true meanings in life are. One of them is friends. Throughout the story you can see the way Noelle is a true friend to Reed. That showed me that through my toughest times I will always have a great friend to back me up, like Noelle and Reed. One other true meaning in life is being you. Reed shows this characteristic because when other girls worry about their appearance, she doesn’t. Instead of wearing expensive designer clothing, she wears cheap athletic clothing and baggy sweatshirts. She doesn’t mind that she stands out in the crowd she just want to be the true Reed Brennan.

This book Private taught me so much more than I expected when I started reading them. I began to read more, and started enjoying it. I can’t wait to hear more about Reed and her journey through Easton Academy in the upcoming books, and experience more journeys with her. These books changed my perspective on popularity and self confidence.