Hello Friends!
Earlier this month I posted my first review of Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, one of the Book of the Month selection for July. That book was a literary nonfiction that focused on the lives of three women across the United States and their stories. To balance that out, my second choice of books was “The Gifted School” by Bruce Holsinger, which is a work of fiction set in the fictional city of Crystal, Colorado.
The Book of the Month is a monthly subscription giving you 1 free credit for 1 book and add-on books are $9.99. I usually get 2 books per month (use credit for one book and pay $9.99 for the other one) and they have a wide variety of books and genres to choose from. Some of their books are also new or early releases, so it’s a good opportunity to read up new and favorite authors. To sign up and try it out, you can use my referral link by clicking HERE! So let’s review the 2nd book from the July box – “The Gifted School.”
***SPOILERS AHEAD!!! If you wish to read “The Gifted School” on your own, please do not continue as I do share some spoilers from the book (not the big finale but still spoilers LOL).
The novel follows the lives of four families, the moms of which have become best friends over the past 10 years – Rose, Samantha, Azra, and Lauren – and their relationship as it plays in the admission of their children into a new elite public school for gifted children. Interestingly, however, the story is told in chapters from only one of the moms (Rose), and the other points of views are from Beck (Azra’s ex-husband), Xander & Tessa (Lauren’s children), and Ch’ayna (house cleaner for Rose & Samantha, and grandmother of one of the kids trying to get into the gifted school). Those different view points offer a glimpse into how family relationships, social status, and connections the family has can impact the child’s chances and opportunities.
If you are a parent, at some point you may have taken it upon yourself to make sure that you chose just the right school, the right classes, the right friends, and so on for your child to be around. In the competitive and fictional city of Colorado that Holsinger created, you see just how much that plays a part in a community that is all about achieving academic excellence and the pressure that parents often put on their children, and sometimes even see their kids’ skills and potential as rivaling those of other kids – as well as the length that some parents would be willing to go to in order to secure a better advantage and opportunity for their children.
In this novel, you get to see how each of the parents deals with the pressure of ensuring that their child gets into this new school for gifted children, and how some may use any means necessary to make that happen. In the case of Rose and Samantha, their daughters (the Emmas – Emma Q [Rose] & Emma Z [Samantha]), are fairly equally matched in talent and intellect, however, their upbringing and social status definitely play a part in how they see themselves and the importance it puts on gaining acceptance into that school. Rose, a neurological researcher, uses her position to gain access to the new school principal to find information on the admission process, based on a make-up study she is working on. Samantha, while a homemaker herself, is married to a very wealthy man who is also on the city council and uses his position and influence to try to get his daughter admitted despite not passing the phase 1 exam (although they do pretend that she got the highest score and which their daughter also believed and was not aware otherwise).
In contrast to that, you also get to see the story from the perspective of Ch’ayna, grandmother from Huanuco, Peru whose grandchild is one of the applicants to the gifted school, and house cleaner (along with her daughter) of Rose and Samantha’s homes. Although they are not well-off in terms of financial standing – they live on the poor part that is separated from Crystal, Colorado – her grandson, Atik, has an exceptional gift of making origami figures, which he is also able to later replicate using computer programs to build and make architectural designs. So while you have on one side two families that use their social status and money to give their children an edge, in Atik’s situation it is all about pure talent and using that to help him get ahead and succeed.
Just as academic intellect is an advantage, other talents are also taken into consideration when it comes to admission to the gifted school. Beck and Azra’s twin boys are very skilled soccer players and their talent sets them apart from the other school applicants. While both equally matched, Aiden gets the coveted spot on a competitive travel soccer team, while Charlie does not perform as well. With their dad’s obsession with the sport, this creates some tension between the boys. Tension is also present in the family life with their father’s precarious financial situation gets further and further out of hand.
The fourth parent – Lauren – is also one with exceptionally talented kids, both of whom apply for the school. Lauren’s young son, Xander, is a child genius. His outlook on life and people is that from the point of view of a chess player and analysis their moves based on their personality. For such a small character, his entrance projects creates the climax of the novel at the end of the book, and forever alters the lives of two of the families. Lauren’s other daughter, Tess, is a high school senior who has go through her own struggles in the past, including drug use and alcohol. After attending a rehab program, Tessa returns and has been keeping a video blog between her and the friends she made there (not knowing it was also publicly accessible). Through Tessa’s inquisitiveness, we learn more about the lives of the four families – things they hide to still appear the perfect families and individuals they present themselves to be. Tessa’s talent is her eye for fashion and creativity, something that Azra encourages her to do by allowing her to create her own line of clothes to sell in her consignment shop.
As a summer read, this was the perfect book. Drama, comedy, suspense…all were nicely incorporated in this novel to keep you hooked and wanting to know who really are those individuals, how far each parent will go and what would they do to get their child into this special school for the gifted, and who will end up being accepted. Not to mention the explosive end of the novel, all because of a child’s science experiment, that shatters one and remakes another of the families.
Sorry again for the long review post! If you’ve stuck it out and read all the way through to the end I greatly appreciate it!!!! ❤
So did you read this book this summer? What did you think of the review, and did it spark your interest in wanting to pick up this book? What books did you read this summer?
Until next time friends…XO!
Dose of Dalia 