read it. love it. but don't try it at home.

First off, a big hearty thanks to this website, which deleted my almost completed post. Secondly, sorry, readers. I'm sure this was far funnier and more polished the first time around. Sigh.

And thirdly...

While my love for humor is apparent from my previous posts, I don't think my other great love is quite as obvious (I'm talking subject matter here, not fictional characters. My love for certain people who aren't real is probably more obvious than anyone cares to hear).

It would be obvious if this blog had anything to do with movies. I', not a huge movie person-- I'm very critical of everything I watch, and cannot watch movies again, except for a very select few. The two on the very top of this exclusive list? Ocean's 11 (my all-time favorite) and 21 (and, hey, since this is a blog about books... it's not mid-list, but if you loved 21, try Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, which is the book 21 was based off of. Since the book details the true story, not the Hollywood version, it's a lot different, but still great).

No, Hacking Harvard by Robin Wasserman doesn't have anything to do with Vegas (sadly... The Hangover is another movie worth re-watching). But it does have smart, likable characters working to pull something outside of the system. And whether it's crime, counting cards (not illegal, but frowned upon), pranks, or hacks, I love it. I knew I would love Hacking Harvard the second I read the inside cover, which I'm copying and pasting from Wasserman's website:

"You don't need to be brilliant. You just need a plan.

The Hack:
Get one deadbeat, fully unqualified slacker into the most prestigious school in the country.

The Crew:
Eric -- the good guy, the voice of reason.
Max -- the player with the most to lose.
Schwarz -- the boy genius on the inside
Lex -- the little miss perfect valedictorian who insists on getting in the game.

The Plan:
Break into the Ivy League. Don't get distracted.
Don't get caught.

The Stakes:
A lot higher than they think."

But Hacking Harvard is more than just a fun plot. There are a lot of issues underlying the boys' scheme (which Lex later jumps in on), even outside of the consequences if they're caught and the much-higher stakes, which I won't spoil here. Just for a sampling, the slacker the crew has to get into Harvard is the bully who completely scarred Eric's elementary school experience. Max's father is almost obsessed with Harvard, his alma mater, but Max doesn't want to go. Schwarz, already attending Harvard after graduating high school a year early, is pushed around by his friends and walked all over by the girl he likes. All of the boys worry, at some point, how their best friendship will fare after this year. And then there's Lex, desperate to get into Harvard the legit way-- and, of course, providing some romantic tension (I won't reveal with who).

Plus, the plot itself is more than just fun. Eric and company are prankers, but Eric wants to pull hacks rather than pranks, and he wants them to mean something. He wants them to be smart, to stick it to the man. This gives the book an added element, and it also means there's a lot of info on MIT hacks, which Eric idolizes and which are also totally true-- there's an entire page about hacks and traditions on MIT's website (which, yes, I had to look up after reading this book). Additionally, the book is as much a story about the fear and anticipation of the future faced by high school seniors-- the one issue every single main character deals with in the novel-- as it is about hacking Harvard. The ending of the book reflects this-- it isn't cheesy, as one might expect (and okay, as I might have hoped...) but it's still satisfying.

In short, Hacking Harvard has a fun, incredibly smart plot with important underlying issues, humor, complex characters, and sharp writing (read an excerpt here). So go on, read the book.

But don't try it for yourself.

Still, if you're itching to do something, write a review of one of your favorite mid-list books and email it to me at doingitwrite@gmail.com. I'll post it in a "guest reviewers" section. And remember-- spread the word about the plight of mid-list authors and your favorite mid-list books!