35 of Your Favorite Books about Over-Achievers

We asked, and you answered! Riot readers recommend 35 of their favorite books about over-achievers.

María Cristina García Lynch Feb 13, 2018

María Cristina García Lynch

Staff Writer

María Cristina García lives in New York with her favorite spouse, her favorite toddler, her favorite cat, and her second-favorite cat. When not ranking members of her household, she's catching up on Supergirl, strumming her mandolin, or trying to beat the clock on her library loans. Twitter: @MeowyCristina Blog: MeowyCristina.com

View All posts by María Cristina García Lynch

This giveaway is sponsored by Gloria Chao’s American Panda, out from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth—that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

Over-achievers make for compelling reading, whether you love to hate them (“Sheesh, do you have to prove you’re better than everybody?”) or you sympathize with them (“That’s a whole lot of external pressure crushing you, there.”). We asked for your favorite book about an over-achiever, and here are some of your picks:

The Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce