Private (novel Series)

Private (novel Series)

Private is a series of young-adult novels by American author Kate Brian, beginning with 2006's inaugural entry of the same name. The books chronicle the rise of ambitious teenager Reed Brennan, the series' narrator, as she becomes a member of her new school's elite dorm—composed of a glamorous yet disparate group of teens known as the Billings Girls. As the series progresses, several matters surrounding mystery, morality, and romance arise.

Thematically, moral ambiguity is a prominent feature of Brian's work. Extreme cases of loyalty and antagonism are personified in characters such as Noelle Lange and Ivy Slade—to degrees that are sometimes questioned or denounced by the narrator. However, it is often only after the details of another character's background have been revealed that Brennan can understand what motivates them, which will occasionally leave her conflicted in her judgments. The series has companion works, set in the past and the future, which are dedicated to further exploring character. These novels include the Private prequel collection, which focuses on various figures, and the spin-off series Privilege, which follows the resourceful but disturbed Ariana Osgood.

To convey the story's tone, the series' art team was composed of select individuals with backgrounds in teenage popular culture and youth-oriented fashion. As a recurring visual theme, each cover from the central story depicts three young women on front, with a fourth featured a slight distance apart on the opposite side.

Debuts of Private novels have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. The publisher has also released e-book editions of the series and its spin-off. As Simon & Schuster, the series' distributor, is owned by CBS Corporation (and thereby associated with CBS and the youth-oriented CW Television Network), fans of Private have campaigned for the series to be adapted into a television program. This has been noted by the author on a blog. In May 2009, a Web series based on the Private novels was announced.