Freshman Dorm

Freshman Dorm #1

by Linda A. Cooney

K.C. ANGELETTI

President, Future Business Leaders, 1, 2, 3, 4... beautiful, cool, intense. Crystal ball: Business tycoon, President of the United States. Will anything stop her from getting ahead?

FAITH CROWLEY

All-American . . . smart, everyone's best friend, sensible. Crystal ball: U. of S. with Brooks (class hunk), then happily ever after. How long can something so perfect last?

WINNIE GOTTLIEB

"She'll try anything once." Boys, brains, trouble. Crystal ball: Men, men, men . . . Will win the Nobel Prize--then lose it. Dean's list . . . or dropout?

This is #1 in Freshman Dorm Series.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, College

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hooray! This is my very first book of the summer, the first check on Jessica's Summer Reading List. And what better than a completely dated, melodramatic, commercialized first novel of a forgotten 90's young adult book series? You're right...nothing is better!

So I'm reading the "Freshman Dorm" series for three reasons:

1) I found novels 1-11 (mysteriously, 6 was nowhere to be found) at the thrift store by my university and I bought them all for less than $5. The candy-colored book covers drew me in, what can I say?

2) I literally just completed my first year of college yesterday and I want to read these books to see how my experience compares (some very easy to relate to, some not so much).

3) I've recently become interested in writing young adult and children's novels in the future and I read somewhere the other day that teen books, TV shows, and movies are created for the age group BELOW the group portrayed in the fiction. So I'm curious about content in books created for teen girls because I want to write feminist fiction for young women. I want to see what kind of role models girls have had in the last 25 or so years--because my role models were from fucking Gossip Girl and The Clique, and that sucked big time when I actually got to high school.

So, these books are sort of a summer project slash summer guilty pleasure. They're very easy to read and the stories don't get too complicated. But I was pleasantly surprised- they portray diverse characters with unique personalities, and they cover all facets of the first-year college experience.

There are three core characters- KC, Winnie, and Faith, who were best friends in high school. They have decided to embark on their next journey together- college! KC is studious and business-minded, always trying to get ahead, and she sets her sights immediately on the best sororities. Winnie is the extroverted wild child of the group who wants to make a splash without "messing up" again. And Faith is shy, sweet and kind, but she wants to break out of her shell in college, which is hard with her high school boyfriend Brooks with her at the same university. There are several secondary characters who will most likely play a larger role in the future books- Faith's awkward and sheltered roommate Lauren, Winnie's roommate Melissa, and Kimberly, a dancer from the performing arts dorm.

The problems are pretty small with not much at stake- Winnie parties a little too hard and alienates her roommate with her messy habits. Faith tries to succeed in the theater department, but Brooks is holding her back. KC has to choose between staying loyal to Lauren or to the catty sorority sisters. But it is all pretty amusing, and it is nice to see the girls sticking together and helping each other rather than stabbing each other in the back.

It is a fluffy start to a fluffy series, and I am looking forward to seeing what other kinds of wayward shenanigans these girls get into! Next up is "Freshman Lies"- ooh, scandalous!

[Chicklit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should I ever try to pull off any kind of literary pretension, please feel free to remind me that as a thirty-two year old woman, I spent a summer obsessed with the Freshman Dorm series.

One would hope it's the nostalgia that appeals, because it certainly isn't the writing or the soap operatic plots. The series follows three friends as they being their freshman year at U of S. Faith, the drama major, wants to have new adventures and meet new people, but is her high school sweetheart holding her back? KC, an ambitious finance major, wants to in to the most prestigous sorority on campus, but will they take her if they find out about her hippy parents? And what secret is party-girl Winnie hiding about her Eurotrip?

It's not great literature, but it's fun, turn-off-your-brain-and-enjoy reading and it's making me feel young again.

[PrairieReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

A trip down memory lane led to back to the "Freshman Dorm" and "Cheerleaders" series and, while neither could be characterized as classic literature, it did bring to life some good summer flashbacks to the 1980s when I was obsessed with these two series, plus the "Sweet Valley" and "Sisters" series. I haven't decided whether to continue reading the "Freshman Dorm" series (there are so many books on my bedside table to read!), but I have passed on reading any more of the "Cheerleaders" series!

[Meleah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three high school friends attend the same college with big ideas of what their freshman year will bring. They believe that their friendship will stay exactly as it was in high school... They find out that college is a different world and have to navigate many changes in each other. They find that although it's difficult sometimes that their friendship can weather changes...

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this. It was just a little more authentic than some other teen books, with flawed but likeable characters and interesting friendships. Will be continuing with the series.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are olden Goldie's I'm 35 and remember reading these in high school then I stumbled across them a couple of years ago and had to have so I set out buying them in paperback from the US but it was worth every cent.
I love faith Winnie and kc and all the other delightful characters in this series being a Aussie I had a fascination with American collage/our uni and so I needed to read

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series when I was a teenager I think and liked it. It's old and a bit outdated, but the characters are likable and it makes me want to go back to school. I just wish I could find the books locally instead of on Amazon.

[Jenn N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read these back in the 90s but an impending snowstorm left me craving something light and nostalgic but also new. This fit all the requirements and was a fun entertaining read to college life before cell phones and the internet.

[The Kawaii Slartibartfast · Rating 5 out of 5]

09/16/2009
I don't remember KC being this heinous when I first read these. Oh, how times change.

[Jen MacDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stood up really well to re-reading, am obsessed again :)

[Jolena Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. You have three girls who are starting to spread there wings in a place where the only people they know at the beginning is each other. As you get in to the book you see these girls meeting new people, trying new things, and questioning themselves and the choices they are making along the way. To me you can see what college life is like or can be like for young people: but you can also see the opportunities that these girls take to make mistakes and pick themselves up along the way. This is a book filled with crossroads for the girls and the things that could happen if they choose one thing or the other: but also they come to realize they need each other and the love in friendships that they can give each other. This is a book that I could not put down and I hope those who read it will like it too.

[K.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are introduced to wacky Winnie, collected KC, and friendly Faith, three high-school best friends just starting out at college. Winnie gets drunk and MAYBE sleeps with the hottie down the hall from her, KC is determined to pledge the best sorority on campus, and Faith may be about to break up with her high-school sweetheart Brooks. We also meet Lauren, repressed and incredibly wealthy, who hopes to make some new friends in this new college life

[Reading with Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Objectively I know this book is terrible. But it came out the exact same time as I was a college freshman, in fact the exact same year AND *month* I was a college freshman, so I think all objectivity is out the window with this series.

[Jodie Bartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this series in Junior High School and LOVED these characters! Freshman Dorm was superior to all other YA Chick Lit of that era and should never be grouped with the likes of "Sweet Valley High". This series was in a whole other class.

[Kayleigh P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved these books. I've been trying to remember the name of this series forever. I've SCOURED the interwebs. Happy this rolled across my desk today.