The Gifted School

I\’m beginning my review by saying that I\’ve seen a couple of mentions of Bruce Holsinger\’s new novel \”The Gifted School\” in articles about the college-entry scheme that has snared several Hollywood biggies and other rich parents who wanted to grease their kids\’ acceptance into college. This book is NOT about that, it\’s about younger kids in the Denver area who are competing for entry into a public magnet school for \”gifted\” children. There is a slight case of greasing but that seems to be coincidental to the current day scandal. I haven\’t seen these comparisons made by either the author or the publisher, so they seem not to be blamed. But, please don\’t buy and read this book thinking it\’s a tell-all – it isn\’t. However, The Gifted School is not a particularly good book. Based in a Boulder-like suburb of Denver, \”Crystal, Colorado\” seems to have many of the same hippy liberal parents who live in Boulder. Holsinger write about four main families; the wives (or ex-wives) are close friends and definitely rule the roost in terms of family dynamics. They all have children they\’re trying to get into the new \”Crystal Academy\” – a magnet public school for K-12 graders. These children are helicopter-parented and become mere names-in-a-book with very little individual identities. Some are excellent athletes, others excel at school, and one is also a chess-wizz. The sister of the chess-wizz is a sneaky little 16 year old who is rebelling against her widowed mother and society at large. She operates a Vlog and becomes an embarrassment to every one in the plot. There\’s also a boy from a poor background who is competing for entrance to the academy. Holsinger\’s characters are not very deep and the plot-points are easy to see coming. I read to the end of the book because I was mildly interested to see if there were any surprises; there weren\’t. I am somewhat disappointed the book is not better because Holsinger\’s two previous books were quite well-written. I have a feeling this book will become popular with book clubs because the issues raised.

This book is hard to review because I liked it at some points and then found it really boring at other times. Some characters stole the show while others could put me to sleep. Some moments got so good and then it would just slip away and go into mundane reading , this happened over and over for me .I think the author had a great scandalous story to tell but got bogged down with the \”gifted school program \” and it\’s pages and pages of rule descriptions and the emails home to the parents. Way too much boring emails that just weakened the read.I wouldn\’t say not read it because , Beck , Tessa Xander all the kids stole the show but sadly Sonja and Azra were such under used characters in my opinion and that was a huge misstep for the author .I would have loved to hear a conversation about Beck between Azra and Sonja. The rest of them, sorry Rose and Lauren ,Samantha and spouses you were just boring and that\’s why this book doesn\’t have more stars for me .The author missed so many opportunities to make every character as flawed and as interesting as Beck ,Tessa and Xander to name a few. The ending could have definitely used a Epilogue that was a huge mistake by the author as well, the way it just ended was again boring for me personally. I only just liked this book , would I highly recommend it? no but it wasn\’t bad either because when the book focused on the interesting characters it was good reading. Try it, you might really like it. I just thought it was decent but not wow ! Many missed opportunities in my opinion the author should have gone full out scandalous because that would have been so fun and actually more heartfelt. I wish the author could have given more attention to the other characters because when he really focused on Beck and the kids it was good stuff .So to sum it up I was half entertained and half bored with the book .

I don\’t often inhale 400+ page novels in under 30 hours these days, but this just-mean-enough story of parents, children, friendship, and all the ways we pretend we aren\’t trying to cheat the pitiless gods of the (supposed) meritocracy was glorious fun. It\’s especially on point for people navigating the crossover between their own ambitions and the first twinges of sending kids out into the world. (It\’s about admissions for a public magnet school, but it also shadows the outsized role of college admissions in American culture.) From the soccer pitch and school open house to the ski slope and the bar, the story is gripping, poignant, and very funny. Highly recommended!

I found this novel really, really compelling. So much so that I read it in 2 days. Great characterization, a gripping theme, a fast-paced narrative, well-managed plot, and lots of delicious humor — and some nice bitchiness. A very good expose of middle class parents\’ anxious competitiveness and children\’s anxiety about their identities — and, to some extent, about their parents. The novel completely rips apart the idea of \”giftedness\” and of schools for gifted children — it\’s really good on the politics of these, and how they prey on parental anxieties. The novel gets the kids\’ idiom really well, but so also that of the parents. The relations between the wives and husbands were very well observed. I was pretty convinced by all the women, as well as by all the men. With Beck, the novel gets into some Tom Wolfe territory, but with humor, not tragedy. Maybe the Beck-Sonja relationship was a bit cliched, but I found the concatenation of events that unfurled towards the end very deft and convincing. I particularly enjoyed Tessa\’s vlogs. The Peruvian family subplot was very good too. I know Boulder (the model for the fictional Crystal) and the sense of place in the novel was very well done, without being exaggerated. All in all, this was one of the most gripping books I\’ve read for a while.

Offers some catharsis by depicting horrible, smug, well to do characters living their lives vicariously through their children and their children\’s achievements and fearing any perceived failure. Quite interesting to view the novel as satire, albeit a rather obvious one. Surely none of we readers bear any resemblance to the folk portrayed here? It\’s just that we all know people like them and so we are compelled to read on. Would make a good television series along the lines of \’Big Little Lies\’ as the novel is episodic with characters possessing domestic drama though lacking nuance. Smoothly written and a nicely acerbic read.

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