“The Gifted School” by Bruce Holsinger

NIGHTSTANDS & COFFEE TABLES

REVIEW BY MEREDITH MCKINNIE

“These crises and catastrophes had braided the four of them together, like vines around a trunk. Easy to believe those bonds hid no malice in their grip; easy to believe they could hold forever.”

Holsinger’s novel explores the ties that bind and the lies that break. The story is set in Crystal, Colorado, a fictional town for the wealthy and privileged, all vying for the perfect life for themselves and their kids. When a new school is announced for the gifted children in the area, all the parents are convinced their children will be part of the small percent of students accepted. Having always had everything at their fingertips due to their fancy degrees and disposable income, the idea of being told they’re not quite good enough is terrifying. Parents take extreme measures to ensure their kids’ success, challenging their friendships and relationships, all in the names of their children being part of an esteemed group. This novel shows how we all succumb to peer pressure, even as adults who know better. We want our kids to have the best chance, and are often willing to sacrifice ourselves and their happiness for a specified ideal.

t ten years ago, and have been raising their kids alongside each other for the past decade. Lauren’s son Xander is a chess prodigy while her daughter Tessa is a rebellious teenager that Lauren has all but given up hope for. Rose’s daughter Emma Q and Samantha’s daughter Emma Z are like shadows, always together, always challenging one another. Azra’s twin boys are soccer stars who are assumed to be dumb jocks dealing with their parent’s divorce. Their lives are so intertwined, that any accomplishment or misstep is met with comparison. The story shifts perspectives, from parents, to kids, to one daughter’s vlog. Holsinger saturates his narrative with acute details, some uproariously funny and others intensely heartfelt and honest. The novel reads like it’s meant for smart people, the type of book they read for fun. I found myself frustrated a few chapters in when I couldn’t keep the characters straight, which daughters belonged to whom and who used to be married to someone else. I was both shocked at the lengths some of these characters were willing to go in the name of esteem, and yet could easily see how the pressure cooker of society can make the path inevitable for some.

A shocking revelation is made near the end, and worth the wait. After each chapter, readers are anxiously seeing the school applicants cut in each round, guessing which kid will make the cohort of students chosen not only for their supreme cognitive skills but exceptional individual talents. It’s a competition, though none will acknowledge the race. In the end, it becomes less about who gets in the school, and more about who the people have become in the process.