High and Outside

by Linnea A. Due

Niki is the star of her high school softball team and an honors student. But her nighttime binges with alcohol escalate, and her world collapses into a hazy blur of self-destruction, cutting off even those she loves.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

195 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1980

About the author

Linnea Due is an author and journalist from Berkeley, California. She holds a graduate degree in criminology.

Reviews

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye-opening novel about a high-functioning alcoholic teenager, 17-year-old Niki Etchens. Readable, informative, not an after-school special. There's a lot of information about what alcoholism means, and the author doesn't whitewash Niki's life. The book was published in 1980, and I don't know if the culture was just different then, but I was shocked how often Niki drove drunk — even driving her friends home, with rarely anyone blinking an eye. Couldn't believe she never had an accident. Niki is a star pitcher on the girls' softball team, and there's some reflection on the devaluation of girls' sports and female athletes compared to their male equivalents. I appreciated the role Niki's friendship with her best friend, Martha, played in the novel; more than any other part of Niki's life, it's this friendship that shows a clear picture of the harms of Niki's drinking. The book is set in Berkeley, with mentions of the UC and Carmel.

[John Marr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always a sucker for a good teen drunk novel, and when I heard this one was set in Berkeley (an inexplicably underused setting) I couldn't resist. I was a little disappointed. The Berkeley setting was vague and totally lacking in atmosphere. And G&T swilling heroine Nikki is an annoying overachiever. But she certainly can drink! She She engages in all sorts of drunken hijinks, wrecking havoc on her life, her friends, and family although the best stuff happens in her blackouts. She even comes within a few beers of the DTs! Of course, novels of this sort must preach the AA line, but the sermons are neither excessive nor overly annoying. Not bad.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable. I hadn't read a whole book in a while & I finished reading this book in 1 week. I have personally struggled with drinking & this book is fiction but Author did such a great job. I related a lot, especially to the protagonist's thoughts. They were almost like my own thoughts about drinking.. It made me wonder about the Author.. Great book, it seems to me that the Author knew what she was talking about & that's what made me Love this book.. The ending was just a tad lackluster but then again, being someone who has struggled with drinking, I gotta say, it was a realistic ending.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book about a teenager's realization that she is an alcoholic, to be very real and surprisingly well written. The protagonist - who's name I cannot recall - is star softball player and popular and accomplished student. When her alcohol use starts spinning out of control she finds herself alone and abandoned by everything and everyone except for a sympathetic coach. Impacted me as a teenager but have not read it since.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read from 5/7 to 5/8. Very well done novel on teen alcoholism. Shows that alcoholics can be quite successful in many ways--the main character is a star softball pitcher and gets the highest SAT scores in her class. She also drinks to the point of blacking out.

Re-read from 6/9 to 6/20.