Prep

Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of Prep. The novel was published in 2005, becoming a bestseller and something of a sensation. Like the main character, Lee Fiora, Sittenfeld is from the Midwest and went to a prestigious boarding school, Groton School in Massachusetts. In an Entertainment Weekly article, Sittenfeld says she based the look of Ault (Lee’s boarding school) on Groton, but Prep isn’t autobiographical, and she and Lee don’t have much in common (Rankin, Seija. “The Untold Story of Prep: Secrets From the Making of the Cult-Classic Campus Novel.” Entertainment Weekly, 18 Aug. 2018). As the book follows Lee as she develops at Ault, it qualifies as a coming-of-age story or a Bildungsroman. The funny parts of the book make it a satire, and the romantic parts turn it into a romance novel. Lee’s voice is multifaceted, and her struggle to assert herself at the affluent Ault produces themes like Identity Construction, Girls versus Boys, and Money and Visibility.

The page numbers refer to the 2013 Random House eBook edition of Prep.

Content Warning: Prep contains fatphobia, suicide, and bigoted representations of race, ethnicity, and gender.

Plot Summary

Lee Fiora comes from a working-class family in South Bend, Indiana, but she wants to attend a prestigious prep school, Ault, in New England, and the school gives her a scholarship so that she can afford it. She starts school badly, preparing for the wrong topic in Ancient History. She runs out of the class and into the senior prefect, Gates Medkowski, who comforts her. Friendless, Lee thinks about Gates and imagines them touching and kissing.

Ault is co-ed, with the boys and girls living in separate dorms. A thief is taking money from the girls in Lee’s dorm. Lee wonders if she’s the thief, but she’s not. Lee catches the thief, and it’s Little Washington—a Black student whose parents may or may not be a doctor and a lawyer. Little is also on scholarship. She doesn’t like Ault but likes Lee and doesn’t think rich girls need extra money. Little promises never to steal from Lee, but Lee reports her, and Ault expels Little.

Though Lee excelled at school in Indiana, she’s getting a C in biology, but she doesn’t have to worry about school for a day because Dean Fletcher announces a surprise holiday. Lee goes to the mall to get her ear pierced. She faints, and Cross Sugarman, the most popular boy in her grade, takes her to a diner in the mall to help her recover. They mostly hit it off, and Lee watches a movie with Cross and his guy friends, and then they go to an arcade and eat pizza.

Lee meets Conchita Maxwell, who helps her learn about Bob Dylan, while Lee helps her learn to ride a bike. Lee thinks Conchita is on a scholarship, but Conchita is wealthy—her dad is an oil mogul. Through Conchita, Lee meets Martha Porter, and they get along and, upsetting Conchita, become roommates for the rest of their time at Ault.

Lee excels at a school-wide game, Assassin. The students receive targets and stickers. To “kill” their target, they must put the sticker on them without anyone looking. Lee sees Assassin as a way to reconnect with Cross, but after Conchita and Lee fight about Martha, Conchita kills Lee.

During sophomore year, a boy wanders into her dorm’s common room and asks her to cut his hair. Though Lee has no experience doing so, she agrees, and soon, she’s cutting the hair of several students. When she cuts the hair of Aspeth Montgomery (the most popular girl in her class), she does so in front of Cross.

Lee continues to struggle in school. In English class, she refuses to read aloud her essay on where she likes to reflect. When she turns in an essay on a topic that matters to her, she writes a note informing the teacher, Ms. Moray, that the topic doesn’t matter to her. Ms. Moray is a young replacement teacher, and she wants Lee to succeed. To compensate for her essay on a topic that matters, Lee gives Ms. Moray a haircut, and Ms. Moray gives Lee an A.

During the fall of her junior year, Lee’s parents come for parents’ weekend. She is nervous about how her working-class parents will fit in with the affluent Ault world. Though she has a solid, jokey relationship with her dad and a loving, sincere relationship with her mom, Lee treats her parents like pariahs, but her friends seem to like her dad’s bawdy comments. After her parents take Lee and two of her friends, Maria and Rufina, out for Chinese food, Maria wants Lee’s parents to drive her to her boyfriend’s hotel. Lee’s dad doesn’t want to, and Lee and her dad fight. They call each other names, and Lee’s dad hits her. Lee’s mom calls her the next morning to say they’re leaving early, and both Lee and her mom are in tears.

During the winter of Lee’s junior year, Sin-Jun Kim, Lee’s roommate freshman year, attempts to die by suicide. The reason, presumably, is that Sin-Jun is in a sexual relationship with her roommate, Clara.

In the hospital, Lee meets David Bardo, a 21-year-old who works in the Ault kitchen. He gives Lee a ride home, and she agrees to go on a date with him for real mashed potatoes. Bardo has to reschedule and approaches Lee in front of other Ault students, and, ashamed of her link to the working-class young man, Lee gives him the cold shoulder.

In the spring of Lee’s junior year, Martha gets nominated for female senior prefect. She’s up against Aspeth and Gillian (the sophomore and junior prefect). Lee doesn’t think Martha is cool enough to win, but Martha wins in a landslide, and Lee doesn’t congratulate her right away.

Lee is failing math, and her math tutor, Aubrey, tries to help her, but Lee can’t concentrate on anything but Ault social drama. If Lee doesn’t pass the math examination, she’ll probably be subject to “spring-cleaning”—Ault will expel her. The math test occurs on the same day Martha wins the prefect position. Martha finds Lee in their room, and Lee has given up, so Martha helps her cheat and gets her a C−.

During senior year, Cross visits Lee’s room, and they have sexual encounters and, eventually, intercourse. Lee thinks she’s in love, but she asks Cross not to tell anyone about what they’re doing, and the ambiguity of the relationship with Cross torments Lee.

Headmaster Byden asks Lee to speak to a New York Times reporter who’s writing an article on prep schools. Lee doesn’t refrain from criticizing Ault during the interview, and the reporter uses Lee to paint a negative picture of Ault. The students scorn Lee for exposing Ault to bad publicity.

Cross stops visiting Lee, and Lee confronts him while he plays basketball alone. Cross reminds Lee that it was her idea to keep their relationship a secret. He tells her she probably would have an easier time if she realized that she’s not so weird or that being so weird isn’t a negative.

During senior week, Lee sleeps over in a Boston hotel room rented by Dede Schwartz (she worships Aspeth and was Lee’s freshman-year roommate). The next morning, while trying to get to Martha’s house, Lee discovers that the world is a big place.