Andie gets left behind on the morning that her perfect older sister leaves for Yale, and discovers that Claire has left her a gift -- a guide to the private high school that she has just left and that Andie will be entering as a freshman shortly. Claire used an old field guide as the base, and pasted in her own text around the pictures and illustrations. Her guide is full of wise advice and accurate descriptions of the social scene -- defining the various cliques in terms of animals and describing their behaviors, hangouts, strengths and weaknesses. Claire gives advice on all the little things that can make or break your "coolness" -- clothes, music, classes, locker etiquette, and the social minefield of the cafeteria. Andie realizes that her ultra-cool sister had exactly the same fears and anxieties that she does now, and that she'll be okay. Short, amusing, and a nice change of pace in terms of the way the book is set up! ( )

Funny, not much of a story line, tells it like it is, but without nasty details. ( )

Kind of lame. ( )

Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Andie's nervous about starting high school. What if everyone compares her to her super-popular sister and finds her lacking?

Since Claire just graduated, she won't be there to help Andie, but neither will she be there to overshadow her. The day Claire leaves for college, she leaves behind a present for Andie: a field guide to high school.

Inside, she dishes on what not to do, the differences between the cliques, and the knowledge that everyone's insecure in high school. Is the answer really to just be yourself?

Andie shares the guide with her best friend, Bess, who will be attending a different high school. While the two friends pour over the guide with amusement and wonder, they realize that this tiny guide dishes on everything high school.

Readers will be left wondering if Andie follows her sister's advice and if she survives high school, though, since the book only spans one day. ( )

Andie's getting ready to start high school just as her big sister Claire is heading off for college. Claire hasn't forgotten about her though; she leaves Andie a "guidebook" filled with tips on how to survive her freshman year at the private high school. At times funny, this book doesn't really have much of a plot since it's mainly written in guidebook format. The "message" is that underneath all the posturing that occurs at high school, everyone's the same. ( )