On "Jersey Day" the artsy academic girl wonders suspiciously which football player could have possibly put his invitational jersey on her desk. In "The Briefcase" the new kid reaps the consequences when his parents force him to carry an expensive briefcase with him to school. In "Elvis" a brainy girl with this unfortunate nickname receives social aid from an unlikely benefactor--the school's football star. In these laugh-out-loud pieces, Alden R. Carter tells the stories of students from one end of the social spectrum to the other. Jock to loner, academic snob to outcast, Carter explores and shatters the sterotypes behind the relationships, friendships, rumors, peer pressure, sports, bullies, and other assorted forms of mental anguish that come with high school.

• @wishlist