Advice and inspiration for graduates

REVIEWS BY TRISHA PING

This month, parents, friends and relatives everywhere will be searching for the perfect graduation gift. If you're interested in looking beyond Oh, the Places You'll Go! and Chicken Soup for the College Soul, Volume 20, consider these three new books for graduates. The first is inspiring, the second is, well, irreverent, and the third is a little bit of both—one of them just might be what you're looking for.

Learn as you go

Best-selling author Terry McMillan (Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back) fell asleep during her own high school commencement speech, so when she was asked to speak at her son's graduation in 2002, she wanted to make sure to say something original and inspiring. McMillan thought back to her college experience, and came up with 12 things she wished she had known going into it. Her speech was a hit, and she expanded it into book form, adding 12 more tips to create It's OK if You're Clueless: And 23 More Tips for the College-Bound. In addition to the title tip, McMillan tells students not to listen to their parents ("you can't live out their dreams; you have to find your own") and that life should be an adventure ("Do everything you can to make your life the most unforgettable experience, so that . . . you won't have a million regrets, but memories you might want to share with your kids someday. Or maybe not.").

It's OK if You're Clueless is a quick, light read. The short explanations of each tip manage to be inspiring without crossing the line into schmaltzy, and are seasoned with humor and honesty. Put simply, this is a gift that a parent or grandparent can be happy to give and that a graduate will also be pleased to receive.


Another side of college life

On the other hand, The CollegeHumor Guide to College is the book a graduate might get from a friend who's already in college—an ironic, inside look at college life today. Written by Ethan Trex and Streeter Seidell, two columnists from CollegeHumor.com, a website that posts funny photos, cartoons and videos from college students across the country, this book is nothing if not irreverent. Instead of presenting the parent-sanctioned aspects of college (Finding Yourself! Education!) The CollegeHumor Guide focuses on the side of college life that many high school graduates are looking forward to (Parties! Spring Break! Alcohol!). Though the language and subject matter are over-the-top at times, the authors have their tongues firmly in cheek, gently mocking the hard-partying college student lifestyle even as they give advice on living it. Take their comments on Spring Break: "Spring Break is all about knowing your limits, then pushing past those limits."

But it's not just about partying—the guide also helps you interpret course names and find homework help ("Haitian and Asian sound alike, so you want to verify which one he is before forcing him to do your math homework."). If you want your recent grad to put you on their "cool" list, this book might be the perfect gift.


Looking for that dream job

If your goal is to make sure the graduate in your life eventually finds gainful employment, the book to give is The Intern Files: How to Get, Keep, and Make the Most of Your Internship. Author Jamie Fedorko wrote the book after completing his own internship, and it's filled with been-there, made-that-mistake advice. From the practical (preparing your resume) to the personal (hooking up with another intern), The Intern Files covers it all, and explains how important internships can be in securing that dream job—and in discovering what you want to do with your life. After all, isn't that what college is all about?


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