The Gifted School

Starred review from May 27, 2019
In this sharply entertaining novel from Holsinger (The Invention of Fire), Crystal, Colo., is an affluent community where a new gifted magnet school for grades six through 12 will soon open. With limited spaces available, the competition among parents to get their offspring into the school, called the “Stuyvesant of the Rockies,” turns ruthless. Dr. Rose Holland, a pediatric neurologist, uses her position to gather inside information that could be vital for her daughter, Emma Q’s, admission. Queen bee Samantha Zeller and her moneyman husband, Kevin, are not above lying about the IQ test results of their daughter, Emma Z. Divorced Azra and Beck are forced to deal with the emotional fallout when the admission process causes friction between their twin sons. And single mother Lauren’s daughter, Tessa, recently out of rehab, keeps a video blog that sees through all the adult pretensions around her. As the application process spools out, it pits parent against parent, student against student, and spouse against spouse until relationships are frayed to the breaking point and betrayals build to a shattering climax during an open house at the new school. This depiction of the depths to which some parents will stoop to win social advantage for their offspring makes for a smart, piercing novel, and timely given recent headlines.

A story featuring parents who are willing to do anything to have their children seen as gifted is hardly unique. But one that also makes the children heard and that is delivered by a narrator who is herself gifted in conveying those young voices--those attributes put THE GIFTED SCHOOL at the head of its class. Narrator January LaVoy clearly has a facility for voicing girls and boys, and she demonstrates equal proficiency with adults, particularly the four women at the novel's center. Each comes across as distinctly as her child. The only question listeners will need to ask is which character is most like themselves or someone they know. Holsinger's novel offers plenty to identify with, for good or for ill. K.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine