Rating: 
Summary: Scarier than Stephen King!
Review: Although it drags a little in the middle, this book ought to be mandatory reading for any parent about to send his or her child to public high school. No discipline, no values, no integrity, little education. I work two jobs so that I can send my kids to private school. Reading this made writing the checks a thousand times easier. The lesson of this book: even if you have to live out of your car, avoid public education!
Rating: 
Summary: Attempting to enter Another Planet
Review: Another Planet attempts to bring us into the doors of a suburban high school and show us what the new realities of high school are. Elinor Burkett goes back to school in an attempt to tackle the tough questions we are asking about schools. From the trials of teachers to the tribulations of students Burkett gives us a firsthand account of the way our society and our politicians have changed the basic tenants of the institution many of us think we know everything about. Burkett shows us that while the halls of the school may be the same, the things that are happening inside of those halls are much different.
Burkett does a nice job of hitting all of the major issues that are burning in today's school systems. Her research into the realities of standards based education, funding shortages, skyrocketing health care insurance, and the difficulties teachers have balancing the many roles they feel they need to fill seems to fit with what people in the trenches are feeling. Her insights into the ever increasing pressures students are facing also seem to hit their mark.
Another Planet falls short, in my opinion, in the way she attempts to put the whole picture together. Individual topics are fairly well defined, but Burkett seems misguided in her view of how those individual pieces fit with each other. One nice aspect of the book is that the analysis is easily put aside and the reader is free to draw their own conclusions.
Burkett's book is a nice snapshot of schools today. The book is becoming dated rather quickly with the strong references to school violence and the Columbine school shootings. It may become useful down the road as a reference to this time period and help future generations ground themselves in what feelings were pervading schools in the early part of the new century. I do think the current uses of the book are limited as they do not give us any real new knowledge or insight to any of the issues that are currently being focused on by society. I was also confused by the strange addition of the afterword by the author which seemed to serve no real purpose to the book.
Despite the shortcomings of the book, I found it a quick and easy read. I was able to draw my own conclusions about the author's experiences during her year at Prior Lake High School, so I do not feel her views got in the way of the true value of this book. If not for the misguided analysis I would have rated the book a three.
Rating:
Summary: A real look at a real school
Review: As a suburban educator I can tell you this is 100% accurate. Anyone, parent, teacher, politician who wants to see what is going on in a school from both a student and faculty perspective must read this book. This is the real deal.WARNING TO ALL EDUCATORS about this book: this book is so real and accurate that reading it will make you think you are at work. This book is not an escape read for a teacher, it brings you back to work for another period! You can put names from your own school on all the people in this book. Educators will read this book and say how truthful it is, everyone else should read it and see how scary the educational system has become.
Rating:
Summary: If only the public knew
Review: Elinor Burkett's eye for subtle detail will open yours to the state of education in the American suburban landscape. One could not imagine a more sensitive 'fly on the wall' to the sociology of American education. As a retired educator of thirty years [in an adjoining school district from which the saga transpires], I can attest to the painful features of an institution which has far more concerns than education on its plate. Students, administrators, teachers, cooks, and everyone else caught up in the impersonal nature of the American high school are given free rein in their reactions to, and coping with, the 'beast among us.' You may shake your head in reaction to Ms. Burkett's reporting, and you may oftentimes laugh out loud at the antics portrayed, but I can guarantee that you will be amazed at what you didn't know about our most important social institution for our nation's future. With great humor and understanding, the author has done a service for anyone interested in that future.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid Description of High School and Pop Culture
Review: Great style, wonderfully written, and dealing with urgent, relevant themes, Another World gets four, not five, stars. Why? Because it seems that too much that is explored here is already known or somewhat obvious to many: That students, divided by cliques, are caught up in pop culture craze and have contempt for education. That teachers have egos and frailties that often impede their careers. That there is no coordination between teachers, parents, and students, so that the school system is in chaos. If you are not familiar with these developments, then this book is a real eye-opener.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch for the Biased Reviews
Review: I am giving this book 5 stars even though I think it probably deserves 4. It appears as though a large portion of the negative reviews were written by students who were upset not to be included in the book. Also, one review appears to be duplicated, and I suspect that 4 1-star reviews were written by the same person - the atrocious spelling gave it away. I am not too many years out of high school (I graduated in 1996) and this book brought back a lot for me. Yes there are plenty of kids who do just fine, and yes there are some kids who just don't care and no matter what you do for them, they still won't. But what about everybody else? I myself had a bad time in high school. I graduated with a C average (a mix of A's in the classes with inspiring teachers, and F's in the classes with the other kind of teachers) and went on to graduate from college Summa Cum Laude. What would have helped me do better in high school? What would have helped me care? I don't know. Neither does Elinor Burkett. She doesn't offer any answers, probably because there isn't one simple answer, other than the fact that we need more well qualified, engaging, inspiring teachers who truly love what they do. They are out there - I have had some, and boy does it make a difference. But what person of that caliber is going to take a job that pays so little? One reviewer said don't let your kids in public school no matter what. The simple fact is that is not a financial reality for many people. I don't think that is the answer. We can't run away from the problem. I thought the book was very well written. It was a very quick and engaging read. I was drawn in by the characters, and I identified with so much of what they went through. I think one of the problems with high schools is simply a lack of maturity of the students. I felt myself wanting to reach through the pages to tell the students "hang on, it will get better. This is not real life, and this is not the way it will always be."
Rating:
Summary: An answer to Columbine? Control = anger
Review: I think this is a WONDERFUL book! I am a parent of a student in the class of 2000 in Prior Lake. Yes, it does use real names and real situations, and many of our staff members are not portrayed the way I, personally, would want to be portrayed if I were an educator, but I believe it also shows the real care, concern and dedication that some of our teachers have on a daily basis. Ms. Burkett shows the frustration of many of our students by an administration that uses control and intimadation to "control" our children. These are young people who are suppose to "obey' their teachers until graduation day in June, when they are suddenly suppose to think for themselves as adults. Maybe some of the anger in schools would lesson if we start treating students with the same respect that administrators expect. Ms. Burkett and her husband were a welcome addition to our community and I think it is a shame that she is getting bashed by the same administration who invited her into our school because she told the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Biased
Review: I went to Prior Lake High School and knew all of the people she wrote about, I actually refused to sign one of her consent forms allowing her to use my name in the book (she mentioned it once anyway). Roger Murphy, Jayne Garrison, and Randy Henke were my best friends. But, contrary to what she wrote, Roger was NOT the only black student, just the only one of his friends who was black. To be honest, it wasn't a big deal, to him or anyone else. Ellie came to Prior Lake seeking out a handful of personality types to write about, as far as the students were concerned. She sought out the "alternative" kids and the "popular" kids, and completely ignored the middle ground where most of Prior Lake is, the silent majority in her book. Also, Prior Lake is NOT a typical high school. Prior Lake is an affluent community due to the lake and the casino nearby, making the school a powderkeg for dysfunction. Also, the town boasts more bars and liquor stores than gas stations. When I was in school, Prior Lake had the highest per capita arrests for underage consumption in Minnesota or Wisconsin. The kids she chose to fill her stereotypes were misrepresented most of the time, and what remained was complete fiction. Some of it, yes, is true, but written about in such a light as to be taken the wrong way. On another hand, kids put on a show for her, some of the people she wrote about all but reinvented themselves for her. Nick, the "young James Dean" as she put it, was never like that at all until she came along, he was a quiet, studius, well-behaved kid with slightly above average intelligence. The only saving grace of the book was the parts about the plight of the teachers.
For all its negativity, Prior Lake does have some amazing teachers. Ron Lachelt is really referred to as "god" by some of the students and not without reason. He is a truly brilliant man and an excellent teacher, someone who commanded respect from everyone. I was Mara Corey's teacher aide for a trimester and her student for two, she was and is my favorite teacher ever. Joe Gorake was not so disliked as Ellie tried to make out, Gorake commanded his own kind of respect, and the students that didn't like him only did so because he tried to make them apply themselves. But, again, the book came too little, too late. Ms Corey did not come back for the 2001 year, and the year before Ellie came on her "crusade" another great teacher was forced into retirement. The book says nothing about Gale Mord, but if she had truly paid attention to the students, it would have. If you read this book, please take her student representations with a grain of salt (in most cases, more than a grain).
Rating:
Summary: Recognizable
Review: The most impressive thing about ANOTHER PLANET is Prior Lake High School's willingness to air its dirty laundry. I was a teacher for twenty years, and, believe me, there are very few administrators like Dr. Olson.
The set-up is this: Journalist Elinor Burkett was to be given almost unlimited access to students, teachers, administrators and parents for an entire year. She was looking for a suburban school about the size of Columbine and Prior Lake fit the bill.
I have to say that I enjoyed the book, especially the kids. Burkett includes a "Cast of Characters" within the first few pages. The inside covers are also used as a photo gallery. I kept paging back to find whomever she was talking about at a given time. Another remarkable fact: she used real names, had everybody sign a release before she'd talk to them.
Many of the kids fit specific "types" we've all met when we were in high school: Tony Lorenz, the cocky co-captain of the football team; Ashlee Altenbach, the pot-smoking ADHD student; Marissa Clausen, Goth princess; and my favorite, Reilly Liebhard, school genius.
The teachers are "types" are well: There's Joe Goracke, from "the old school"; Lori Boynton, assistant principal and resident hardass, and Mary Haugen, director of activities and athletics, who insists on calling sports co-curricular activities. The most compelling are the newbies, Mike Carr, first-year social studies and Mara Corey, first-year English. Burkett follows them around unrelentingly, exposing their every foible. Corey loses her job, mainly because she runs afoul of the less-liberal element in her department.
Lots of issues are analyzed here.The cluelessness of the faculty for one thing. They think the dates written on the bathroom walls signify another Columbine-like event, when in really they advertize a national pot-smoking day. Even the NHS students show up for it, as does Burkett. She also hits the "self esteem" fad hard. Teachers are not allowed to say anything negative about students, lest they damage their fragile egos. Burkett blames this for the mind set that led to Columbine.
I have to say that when I first read the book I thought Burkett had an ax to grind (She does admit at one point that high school was not a good time for her), but I must admit she got most of it right. There's the popularity contest going on, among the teachers, there's the petty bickering and back stabbing in the lounge, there's the problem with discipline (everyone else has one, but not me) and there're the sweet, lovely parents who won't stand up for the teachers. Bring on the computer classrooms!
Rating:
Summary: DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ
Review: this book is nothing but lies, I am a former student from the high school that she wrote about and she didn't write a single peice of truth in this book. most of the "facts" that she used where in-fact made up. this book has destroyed the reputation that this small town once had. for those of you that think that this was a good read I feel sorry for you. She lied to the students of Prior Lake, she lied to the staff, and she lied to the readers. DON'T (and I mean this)buy this book. you would be better off watching 'wag the dog' then to read this so call truths about high schools.
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