Private

Overview

Tradition, Honor, Excellence...and secrets so dark they're almost invisible

Fifteen-year-old Reed Brennan wins a scholarship to Easton Academy -- the golden ticket away from her pill-popping mother and run-of-the-mill suburban life. But when she arrives on the beautiful, tradition-steeped campus of Easton, everyone is just a bit more sophisticated, a bit more gorgeous, and a lot wealthier than she ever thought possible. Reed realizes that even though she has been accepted to Easton, Easton has not accepted her. She feels like she's on the outside, looking in.

Until she meets the Billings Girls.

They are the most beautiful, intelligent, and intensely confident girls on campus. And they know it. They hold all the power in a world where power is fleeting but means everything. Reed vows to do whatever it takes to be accepted into their inner circle.

Reed uses every part of herself -- the good, the bad, the beautiful -- to get closer to the Billings Girls. She quickly discovers that inside their secret parties and mountains of attitude, hanging in their designer clothing-packed closets the Billings Girls have skeletons. And they'll do anything to keep their secrets private.

Editorial Reviews

FREE DOWNLOAD UNTIL JANUARY 15, 2009!

When Reed leaves her troubled Pennsylvania home and begins posh Easton Academy as a scholarship student, she immediately attracts the attention of cute senior Thomas Pearson. She also quickly comes to the attention of the popular Billings Girls, who can be nice, mean or indifferent towards her, depending on the day. Reed puts up with their behavior knowing that if she "could just enter that inner sanctum, every door at Easton would open up to me." Keeping up academically proves a challenge, but Reed also faces other tests, such as stealing an exam for the Billings Girls or figuring out why they warn her about her now-boyfriend, Thomas, who has his own connections to their circle. The set-up seems scripted and the Billings Girls themselves are stereotypical (Noelle is the Alpha girl, Taylor is the brain, etc.), but Reed is more complex than most of this genre's narrators. She has an abusive mother "who likes pills with her bourbon," and admits that her connection to Thomas, the son of alcoholics, is partly due to finding "someone who understood." Of course, when Thomas accuses her of using him to get to the Billings Girls, he is somewhat right about that, too. The conclusion leaves plenty of questions including where Thomas has disappeared to. Readers will no doubt eagerly await the next installment in Brian's (The Virginity Club) Private series, Invitation Only, due out this fall. Ages 14-up. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Author Information

Bio of Kate Brian

Kate Brian is the author of the NY Times and USA Today best-selling Private series and it's spin-off series, Privilege. She has also written many other books for teens including Sweet 16 and Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys.

Customer Reviews

• glad it was free

  Posted January 23, 2009 by carrie, upstate ny

  I found the main character weak and irritating. The end was extremely disappointing and left me hanging. I even went back into my computer to make sure I downloaded the whole book because of the lack of resolution of the last chapter. This book was a waste of my time.

• its ok

  Posted January 24, 2009 by melissa, spanishfork

  i felt like the book would lead you one way and it went the other way. I also went back to the computer to see if i downloaded the whole book!

• Read the Private Series

  Posted February 20, 2009 by gabby, levittown

  Although some people may not have liked this book i disagree. I loved this book, I could not put it down. When Private ended the reader was left in suspense. That is what makes a good series of books. To understand everything in this first book you must continue to read the next books. This is absolutely a must read in my opinion.

Additional Info

Imprint

Simon Pulse

Filesize

854.35 KB

Number of Pages

240

eBook ISBN

1439103496