Alexandra Robbins

In a smart, entertaining, reassuring book that reads like fiction, Alexandra Robbins manages to cross Gossip Girl with Freaks and Geeks and explain the fascinating psychology and science behind popularity and outcasthood. She reveals that the things that set students apart in high school are the things that help them stand out later in life. Robbins follows seven real people grappling with the uncertainties of high school social life, including: The Loner, who has withdrawn from classmates since they persuaded her to unwittingly join her own hate club The Popular Bitch, a cheerleading captain both seduced by and trapped within her clique's perceived prestige The Nerd, whose differences cause students to laugh at him and his mother to needle him for not being "normal" The New Girl, determined to stay positive as classmates harass her for her mannerisms and target her because of her race The Gamer, an underachiever in danger of not graduating, despite his intellect and his yearning to connect with other students The Weird Girl, who battles discrimination and gossipy politics in school but leads a joyous life outside of it The Band Geek, who is alternately branded too serious and too emo, yet annually runs for class president In the middle of the year, Robbins surprises her subjects with a secret challenge--experiments that force them to change how classmates see them. Robbins intertwines these narratives--often triumphant, occasionally heartbreaking, and always captivating--with essays exploring subjects like the secrets of popularity, being excluded doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, why outsiders succeed, how schools make the social scene worse--and how to fix it. The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth is not just essential reading for students, teachers, parents, and anyone who deals with teenagers, but for all of us, because at some point in our lives we've all been on the outside looking in.

Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth

Now in paperback, the New York Times bestseller-with over 91,000 copies in print-that takes you behind closed doors to see what really goes on in America's sororities. Ever wonder what sorority life is really like In Pledged, bestselling author Alexandra Robbins goes undercover to expose the dark side of collegiate sisterhood-the psychological abuse, hazing rituals, and widespread body image disorders-while at the same time introducing us to many of the intelligent, successful women within its ranks. The result is a compelling sociological exploration of the powerful influence that these organizations wield over young women today. With its fly-on-the-wall voyeurism and remarkable insight, Pledged paints a sharp-eyed portrait of the intriguing and paradoxical world of modern-day sororities.

The Secret Life of Sororities

Pledged

THE SECRET LIVES OF DRIVEN KIDS

OVERACHIEVERS, THE

Abby Wilner

Focuses on the challenges, choices, and responsibilities confronting young adults as they make the transition from college to the real world, offering advice on establishing a career, handling finances, and creating a home away from parents.

The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties

Quarterlife Crisis

Nursing is more than a career; it is a calling, and one of the most important, fascinating, and dangerous professions in the world. As the frontline responders battling traumas, illnesses, and aggression from surprising sources, nurses are remarkable. Yet contemporary literature largely neglects them. In THE NURSES, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins peers behind the staff-only door to write a lively, fast-paced story and a riveting work of investigative journalism. Robbins followed real-life nurses in four hospitals and interviewed hundreds of others in a captivating book filled with joy and violence, miracles and heartbreak, dark humor and narrow victories, gripping drama and unsung heroism. Alexandra Robbins creates sympathetic, engaging characters while diving deep into their world of controlled chaos—the hazing (“nurses eat their young”); sex (not exactly like on TV, but it happens more often than you think); painkiller addiction (disproportionately a problem among the best and brightest); and bullying (by doctors, patients, and others). The result is a page-turner possessing all the twists and turns of a brilliantly told narrative—and a shocking, unvarnished examination of our healthcare system. THE NURSES is a must-read both for the general public, who will learn hospital secrets that could save their own or a loved one’s life, and for nurses, who will proudly share the book as a rallying cry for support and celebration.

A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital

The Nurses

"Meet Jake, a studious new freshman weighing how far to go to find a brotherhood that will introduce him to lifelong friends and help conquer his social awkwardness; and Oliver, a hardworking chapter president trying to keep his misunderstood fraternity out of trouble despite multiple run-ins with the police. Their year-in-the-life stories help explain why students are joining fraternities in record numbers despite scandalous headlines. To find out what it's like to be a fraternity brother in the twenty-first century, Robbins contacted hundreds of brothers whose chapters don't make headlines. Brothers who suggested that many fraternities can be safe spaces for men. Fraternity is more than just an engrossing, character-driven read that includes a stunning twist. It's a vital book about the transition from boyhood to manhood; it weaves psychology, current events, neuroscience, and interviews to explore the state of masculinity today, and what that means for students and their parents. It's a different kind of story about college boys, a story in which they candidly discuss navigating identity, sex, social media, drinking, peer pressure, gender roles, and even porn. And it's a book about boys at a vulnerable age who, in a climate that can stigmatize them merely for being male, are trying to forge a path to manhood while on their own for perhaps the first time--and they don't want to navigate this complicated, coming-of-age journey alone"--

An Inside Look at a Year of College Boys Becoming Men

Fraternity

A Year Inside One of America's Most Heartbreaking, Uplifting, Important Professions

Teachers

The bestselling author of Pledged returns with a groundbreaking look at the pressure to achieve faced by America's teens In Pledged, Alexandra Robbins followed four college girls to produce a riveting narrative that read like fiction. Now, in The Overachievers, Robbins uses the same captivating style to explore how our highstakes educational culture has spiraled out of control. During the year of her ten-year reunion, Robbins goes back to her high school, where she follows heart-tuggingly likeable students including "AP" Frank, who grapples with horrifying parental pressure to succeed; Audrey, whose panicked perfectionism overshadows her life; Sam, who worries his years of overachieving will be wasted if he doesnt attend a name-brand college; Taylor, whose ambition threatens her popular girl status; and The Stealth Overachiever, a mystery junior who flies under the radar. Robbins tackles teen issues such as intense stress, the student and teacher cheating epidemic, sports rage, parental guilt, the black market for study drugs, and a college admissions process so cutthroat that students are driven to suicide and depression because of a B. With a compelling mix of fast-paced narrative and fascinating investigative journalism, The Overachievers aims both to calm the admissions frenzy and to expose its escalating dangers.

The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

The Overachievers

The sleeper hit expose of one of the world's most mysterious organizations: Yale University's 200-year-old secret society Skull and Bones. Acclaimed journalist Robbins slips through the veil of secrecy to investigate the truth about its influence and operations, and explains why this throwback still thrives.

Skull And Bones, The Ivy League, And the Hidden Paths Of Power

Secrets of the Tomb

Alexandra Robbins goes beyond defining the problem of the quarterlife crisis and puts readers on the path to conquering it. She asks and answers the tough, soul-searching questions that keep young adults awake at night.

Advice from Twentysomethings who Have Been There and Survived

Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis

Are you torn between climbing the career ladder or throwing on a sarong in Goa? Do all your mates seem more successful and sorted than you do? Are you suffocated by choice, responsibility, and self-doubt? Are money, homelife and relationships stressing you out? Do these questions just make you want to crawl back under your duvet? Surprisingly you are not alone … you could be in the middle of a quarterlife crisis. We've all heard of adolescent angst and the mid-life crisis, but no one really talks about the challenges of the period in between. The truth is that being a twentysomething in the 'real-world' isn't easy. Quarterlife Crisis is the first book to name and document this phenomenon. With masses of facts, information, and startlingly honest anecdotes Quarterlife Crisis helps you out through an often dizzying period, and compellingly tackles the most difficult questions facing twentysomethings today.

A New York Times bestseller. “A funny, intimate, and often jaw-dropping account of life behind the scenes.”—People Nurses is the compelling story of the year in the life of four nurses, and the drama, unsung heroism, and unique sisterhood of nursing—one of the world’s most important professions (nurses save lives every day), and one of the world’s most dangerous, filled with violence, trauma, and PTSD. In following four nurses, Alexandra Robbins creates sympathetic characters while diving deep into their world of controlled chaos. It’s a world of hazing—“nurses eat their young.” Sex—not exactly like on TV, but surprising just the same. Drug abuse—disproportionately a problem among the best and the brightest, and a constant temptation. And bullying—by peers, by patients, by hospital bureaucrats, and especially by doctors, an epidemic described as lurking in the “shadowy, dark corners of our profession.” The result is a page-turning, shocking look at our health-care system.

A startling, insightful, and instructive exploration of the challenges twenty-somethings face as they transition from school to the real world.

* A Real Simple Best Book of 2019: "An essential read for parents and students." * The New York Times bestselling author of Pledged is back with an unprecedented fly-on-the-wall look inside fraternity houses from current brothers’ perspectives—and a fresh, riveting must-read about what it’s like to be a college guy today. Two real-life stories. One stunning twist. Meet Jake, a studious freshman weighing how far to go to find a brotherhood that will introduce him to lifelong friends and help conquer his social awkwardness; and Oliver, a hardworking chapter president trying to keep his misunderstood fraternity out of trouble despite multiple run-ins with the police. Their year-in-the-life stories help explain why students are joining fraternities in record numbers despite scandalous headlines. To find out what it’s like to be a fraternity brother in the twenty-first century, Robbins contacted hundreds of brothers whose chapters don’t make headlines—and who suggested that many fraternities can be healthy safe spaces for men. Fraternity is more than just a page-turning, character-driven read. It’s a vital book about the transition from boyhood to manhood; it brilliantly weaves psychology, current events, neuroscience, and interviews to explore the state of masculinity today, and what that means for students and their parents. It’s a different kind of story about college boys, a story in which they candidly discuss sex, friendship, social media, drinking, peer pressure, gender roles, and even porn. And it’s a book about boys at a vulnerable age, living on their own for perhaps the first time. Boys who, in a climate that can stigmatize them merely for being male, don’t necessarily want to navigate the complicated, coming-of-age journey to manhood alone.

The practical followup to the acclaimed bestseller In 2001, the groundbreaking book Quarterlife Crisis® addressed the unique and unsettling trials of entering modern adulthood. For the first time, it identified how twentysomethings were lost and confused, and lamented the absence of a guide-a roadmap with solutions for how to emerge from the crisis successful, happy, and sane. Now, the author of Quarterlife Crisis® delivers that roadmap. Alexandra Robbins goes beyond defining the problem of the quarterlife crisis and puts readers on the path to conquering it. She asks-and answers-the tough, soul-searching questions that keep young adults awake at night: - How do I weigh doing what I love versus making money? - Will I ever find my "soul mate"? - Why is it so hard to make friends? - Why are my twenties so different from what I expected? With new voices as well as follow-up interviews with some of the original Quarterlife Crisis® twentysomethings, Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis® is the new go-to guide for people who want it all...but just aren't sure what that is yet.

Advice from Twentysomethings Who Have Been There and Survived

While the midlife crisis has been thoroughly explored by experts, there is another landmine period in our adult development, called the quarterlife crisis, which can be just as devastating. When young adults emerge at graduation from almost two decades of schooling, during which each step to take is clearly marked, they encounter an overwhelming number of choices regarding their careers, finances, homes, and social networks. Confronted by an often shattering whirlwind of new responsibilities, new liberties, and new options, they feel helpless, panicked, indecisive, and apprehensive. Quarterlife Crisis is the first book to document this phenomenon and offer insightful advice on smoothly navigating the challenging transition from childhood to adulthood, from school to the world beyond. It includes the personal stories of more than one hundred twentysomethings who describe their struggles to carve out personal identities; to cope with their fears of failure; to face making choices rather than avoiding them; and to balance all the demanding aspects of personal and professional life. From "What do all my doubts mean?" to "How do I know if the decisions I'm making are right?" this book compellingly addresses the hardest questions facing young adults today.

Alexandra Robbins

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