The authors are not experts in adolescent development, nor do they marshal much sociological data about teenagers and sex. Instead, they interviewed Milton Academy students (whose names they've changed) about the fateful 2004-05 school year. What emerges is a reckless, and frankly quite depressing, subculture of kids who use sex as a major indicator of social status. And while the authors provide a detailed, nonjudgmental "insider" account of Milton Academy's social landscape, they might have been better off using a wider lens, occasionally turning to psychology, cultural studies, or sociology.
At the top of the school's social hierarchy are the jocks and popular girls, sexually active almost by definition, Jones and Miley note. Those on the outside live with anxiety about their lack of sexual experience. The king of Milton Academy is a jock named Brady, whose binge drinking and crass sexual exploits are legendary. The authors introduce him as if he's on MTV's "The Real World": "At the top of his formidable body, jutting delicately from the pale skin around his eyes, were long eyelashes that made him look vulnerable. Girls couldn't get enough of his curly locks and irresistible smile."
Whitney is the "popular girl," and the authors introduce her at a school dance where she entices a hunky guy. "Whitney's tousled brown hair seduced Tripp with every move she made. . . . She knew she was head-turning, jaw-dropping, weak-in-your-knees hot. And she knew he noticed." In a zeitgeist that celebrates heirhead Paris Hilton, Whitney is as empowered as it gets.
