Wuthering High

When her parents send her to a boarding school for juvenile delinquents after she crashes their car and maxes out their credit cards, 15-year-old fashionista Miranda Tate thinks it’s the end of her world. Miranda was born for strolling down the artificially lighted wings of the local mall and NOT for living in a backwards world with no modern devices allowed. Her roommate calls herself Blade and is a worshipper of Satan, and she thinks a ghost is haunting her closet.

Things begin to look ever so slightly better when she befriends Hana and Samir. It also turns out that Ryan Kent, an extremely good-looking boy from her old school, is here as well…and paying her attention, to boot! Life might almost be bearable, if it were not for the show more strange boy named Heathcliff who always seems to show up right when Miranda needs saving. What is up with that boy?

After nearly losing their lives several times, Miranda, Hana, Samir, and Blade finally stumble upon the truth: Bard Academy is haunted by famously suicidal writers—writers like Virginia Woolf and Ernest Hemingway are actually teaching classes! The students further learn that at Bard, fictional characters can come to life—but only at the risk of ending both worlds.

Emily Bronte seems determined to bring all her characters to life, and only Miranda and her friends have the ability to stop the crazy writer. However, saving the world may involve Heathcliff’s “death.” Is Miranda willing to sacrifice the life of the boy who has saved her so many times?

I didn’t find WUTHERING HIGH particularly exciting. All of the conflicts and characters seem half-developed, and I felt unsatisfied upon the ending. However, what this book lacked in style and flair, it made up in its originality. show less

A nice quirky blend of horror, historical and mystery. While Miranda feels like she's the aggrieved party in her family, it's her wrecking her dad's car and maxing out his credit card that everyone focuses on. Those actions land her at Bard Academy, a creepy private school on an island off the Maine coast. She tries escaping to no avail, but after making friends with two other students and getting embroiled in a ghostly mystery, she's determined to figure out what's going on. Following that tale is a fun experience.

Miranda, a fifteen year old forced into the role of 'adult' in her crazy dysfunctional family, wrecks her father's car and wreaks havoc with her stepmother's credit card. So she gets sent to Bard Academy, a reform school on an island in Maine. As the students are forced to focus on their studies of the 'classics' (no electronics allowed), their lives eerily begin to mirror the books they have been reading...and there's something strange about the teachers, too...

This book was fun. It exhibited what I've come to term 'Fforde syndrome', an amusing mix of literary characters with real life. Although it was a bit on the shallow end, I enjoyed it, and would not hesitate to read the rest of the series.

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

WUTHERING HIGH is a novel by Cara Lockwood published by MTV Books, and I must say, the MTV Books are certainly much better than readers might expect from a name known mostly for reality television. In fact, these books are fabulous, no matter what you're expecting, and Cara Lockwood's story is no exception. In WUTHERING HIGH, Miranda Tate is a spoiled but still likeable character who, after a few mistakes involving her Dad's car and stepmother's credit card, is sent off to Bard Academy, a boarding school for misbehaving teenagers.

At Bard Academy, a few things happen that Miranda didn't exactly expect from what she thinks she knows about reform schools. She's having terrifying nightmares show more involving Kate Shaw, a girl who went missing from the school fifteen years earlier. When she tries to escape through the woods, she finds herself going in circles. One of her teachers, Ms. W., always leaves wet footprints. As if those little oddities aren't odd enough, there are some eerie coincidences concerning classics such as DRACULA, JANE EYRE, and WUTHERING HEIGHTS. For instance, there's Heathcliff, remarkably similar to the character in WUTHERING HEIGHTS, who seems to think that Miranda is really Cathy, another character from the novel. Something weird is most certainly going on, and Miranda and her new friends Hana, Samir, and Blade have to find out what it is--fast.

This is a book that is definitely worth reading! Ms. Lockwood's characters are interesting, well done, and realistic, and readers will be able to relate to Miranda's situations with her parents and friends (although perhaps not teachers). The character of Miranda also shows realistic character development instead of being the same slightly bratty fifteen-year-old throughout the book. Aside from her great characters, the story in WUTHERING HIGH is entertaining and original. It's better than just another overused idea with a few differences in details and characters. This novel is one that will keep readers hooked from the very first page to the end, and eagerly awaiting the next novel from Cara Lockwood about Bard Academy. show less

When good girl Miranda decides to take a walk on the wild side by maxing out her step-mother's credit card and crashing her father's BMW, the results were more than she bargained for. A one way ticket to a reclusive boarding school for delinquents on an island off the coast of Maine.

What Miranda finds once she arrives at the eccentric academy is more than just strict rules and stricter teachers. She finds a micro-cosmos of weirdness with woods that lead you in circles and maybe even the ghost of a student who went missing living in her dorm room.

When I first started reading this book I wasn't quite sure how much I'd enjoy it. Our main protagonist seemed quite spoiled and whiney. However, in short order I began to sympathize with Miranda show more and I liked the way she adapted to the oddness of the school. It turned out she really wasn't all that prissy at all. Certainly this had a lot of good points along with a few not so good points. While the product placement and brand name drops seemed a little heavy handed, I think that this would be a good story to spark interest in classic literature (as it is a key point of the book). There was an underlying theme of the core values they like to preach in school although it is rather unusual in today's young adult writings. There were some parts where the first person POV seemed very awkward, especially in the first person present tense. I think that it could have used a little more work to smooth it out.

I wasn't sure how exactly to feel about the revelations closer to the end of the book as I'm always squeamish when they use real people in fictional settings. In the end I decided it was an interesting bent. Also, I certainly did enjoy Heathcliff as a character in this book.

Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable and quick read which I'd highly recommend to tweens and up. show less

To start, I can't tell you whether I really like the heroine of Miranda. On one hand, she's a spoiled girl who seems intent on getting attention. One the other hand, with her whole familial situation, you can't blame her for her behaviour. But I do think that perhaps she should have gotten therapy instead of being sent to boarding school.
I have to say that I enjoyed the novel though.. which is why I'm already starting on the second novel. I like the way that Lockwood has integrated dead famous writers and the characters from their classics into the book. It definitely puts an interesting twist into the novel and brings the old with the new. The novel is a nice and smooth reading... it is a MTV book, not supposed to be an amazing book.. show more but good enough to get teens reading. show less

Recommended Ages: Gr. 9-12

Plot Summary: Miranda is sent to Bard Academy after crashing her father's car. While there, she faces mystery (lights turning on on their own, a wrist grabbing her arm when she reaches into a dresser, the dorm "mom" always seems to be dripping), self-evaluation (why does her father pay more attention to her step-mom?) and love (a hottie from her hometown who is there because he accidentally killed his girlfriend in a car accident). Thankfully, she is able to solve the mysteries with the help of her friends, she tries to pretend the lack of her father's attention doesn't affect her, and the boy likes her back.

Setting: Bard Academy, isolated island off the coast of Maine

Characters: Miranda
Hana - Miranda's new show more friend
Samir - Miranda's new friend (male)
Blade - Miranda's Wiccan roommate
Kate Shaw - old Bard student who was supposedly killed about 10 years earlier
Coach H - teacher (Ernest Hemingway)
Ms. W -
Headmaster B - Charlotte Bronte
Heathcliff - ghost? from Wuthering Heights who stalks/saves Miranda
Ryan Kent - guy from Miranda's high school, Miranda's new love interest
Parker - (female) bully
Emily - Emily Bronte (villian)
Dracula

Recurring Themes: ghosts, classic literature, divorce, typical female teenage issues (puberty, clothing, popularity, etc), friends, research at the library, Wicca

Controversial Issues: This book has it all: sex, drugs, alcohol, and Wicca. Many are repeated multiple times, and all are portrayed as "cool" and/or acceptable.

Personal Thoughts: I am not a fan of ghost stories, first off. They scare me and give me nightmares. Also, I was considering this book for my middle school while I was reading it, which influenced my opinion. This book seemed to lack good writing and character development. There were too many characters to keep track of. It is a fun, quick read for students who like ghost stories. show less