All Loves Excelling: A Novel

by Josiah Bunting III

This is a very disturbing account of a young woman’s struggle to get accepted to Dartmouth College in order to fulfill her mother’s dream. Amanda is a bright and well-rounded student, but her SAT scores were not high enough for her to be accepted to Dartmouth. Her parents enroll her for a post-graduate course of study at a prestigious prep school in order to improve her SATs and further her chances at being accepted by Dartmouth. Amanda’s schedule is packed with AP classes, cross-country running, piano practice and much more as she tries to cope with the enormous pressure of achieving what is expected of her within a few months. The stress eventually begins to take its toll and as Amanda’s energy drains, she develops an eating disorder as well as a dependence on prescription drugs to get her through. Her life becomes focussed on one goal and only one goal: getting in to Dartmouth. I recommend this book for anyone going through the college admissions process. It will remind you to keep things in perceptive.

Grayson

by Lynne Cox

Not nearly as compelling a Swimming to Antarctia, but still this very short book is worth reading. It only took me a few hours (and I don't read that fast!) While Lynne was swimming in the predawn hours off the California coast, she began to feel something in the water beneath her. It took a while for her to realize that a baby gray whale was following her. The whale had apparently lost her mother. The whale would have died if Lynne had not stayed with her in the water, swimming for hours, until the mother found them (with a little help from local fisherman). I was really interested in all the sea life she encounters. I would have been scared to death!

Pictures of the Gray Whale