conformity

Contains two dramatized vignettes that provide examples of the types of problems teens can encounter due to peer pressure, the first involving a demand to fix an athlete's failing grades, and the other shoplifting.

Fourteen-year-old Ivy, a most unroyal princess, befriends Elridge, the dragon sent to keep her in a tower, and together they set out on a perilous quest to find Ivy's fairy godmother, who may be able to save both from their dire fates.

Tale of a coniving, prosperous real estate man who becomes totally corrupt.

Though he lived in a time long ago when cats all dressed alike, Louis Fellini was a different sort of cat who liked to be himself, instead of just a copy cat.

Mimi, an independent preschooler, enjoys copying the behavior of those around her.

Desiree Six Haven trusts the Protectorate, which arranges everyone's career, mate, dreams, even the dates of their deaths, until her childhood friend, Darian, a convict escaped from the Terrorscape, arrives with devastating information.

In a town that values red hair above all else, someone threatens to expose pageant contestant Felicity's secret about her coppery locks.

Explains why organizations and nations are more likely to prosper if they welcome dissent and promote openness, demonstrating that corporations, legislatures, and even presidents are likely to blunder if they do not cultivate a culture of candor and disclosure.

Journalist Robbins explores the ways group identity theories play out among cliques--and the students they exclude. She reveals the new labels students stick onto each other today, the long-term effects of this marginalization, and the reasons students in these categories are often shunned. Then she celebrates them. The homogenization of the US education system has made outcasts more important than ever. In this conformist, creativity-stifling society, the innovation, courage, and differences of outcasts--nerds, weirdos, punks, etc.--are crucial to progress. Robbins intertwines psychology with science, addressing questions such as "Why are popular people mean?" and "Why do social labels stick?" As in Pledged and The Overachievers, Robbins follows students through the course of a year. In her other books, however, Robbins merely observed students. This time, she forces them to examine who they are and how other students perceive them, then dares them to step outside of their comfort zone to attempt social experiments at their schools--experiments that end up changing their lives.--From publisher description.

The people of the town of Plainsville always do the same thing, wear the same thing, and eat the same thing until one day Sheriff Julius decides to do something different.