The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
/The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
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I live in the middle of nowhere. It’s all corn fields, bean fields and 30 minute drives for a gallon of milk. It’s the type of nowhere that means you either attend your public school system or the one private school option that exists in a 30 mile radius. I’m very fortunate that we have a great public school option and I don’t have to worry about all the stress and complete insanity that is the big city competitive school admissions process. The Gifted School takes us inside the drastic ways in which people will do everything to ensure that their little darling has the absolute best education that they deserve.
Four young couples made their homes in a quiet town outside of Denver. Filled with excellent schools, safe neighborhoods, and beautiful homes, the town provides everything you need to provide the perfect upbringing for their children. When the building of a brand new elite school option is announced, it will set the young families on a dangerous path of lies, bribes, and dark secrets.
I loved this book! It’s such a juicy and thrilling look into the lives of the wealthy-and wanna be wealthy-suburban families that base their success on the performance of their children. Private horse riding lessons, elite soccer clubs, special STEM classes, and even college courses are a typical daily activity for these gifted and privileged children. But what does it really take to get your kids into these programs? A large donation? Maybe knowing someone on the board? What do you do when you have multiple children and only one is able to make the cut?
Who has the time for any of this nonsense?
The way privilege is written about was really interesting. The family that takes care of the housekeeping for our wealthy families works incredibly hard and is instilling that into their youngest member Atik. He is an origami prodigy who speaks three languages and has also been accepted into the Crystal Academy. When the other parents find out that the school is actively looking for a diverse student population-they’re stunned. But what about their little babies? There are several scenes like this-I don’t want to spoil them for you-but they’re great!
Karma friends, karma.
The relationships between the families was fascinating. You have the super wealthy Samantha and Kev who donate widely and generously to charities. They also donate large sums to the university where the middle school daughter is auditing a class…
There’s Rose and Gareth-struggling to make their relationship work. She’s the successful doctor and researcher and he’s the unsuccessful novelist who stays home to care for their daughter. Lauren, the widowed mother of a troubled teen and a brilliant son. And lastly, Beck and Azra, divorced parents of their soccer prodigy twin sons. Best friends for a decade, the stress of trying to get their children into the latest elite school begins to create cracks in their relationship. The sly comments about one another, the stress of one parent bragging about their children instead of praising another’s, who was and was not invited to the latest event will all build up to an explosive ending.
This was so good! If you were as fascinated as I was by the celebrity college scandal that hit a few months ago, you will love this! It’s very fast paced and completely engrossing-highly recommend this one!
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