The Gifted School Summary
Bruce Holsinger

The Gifted School Overview

Bruce Holsinger's The Gifted School explores what happens when a public magnet school for the exceptionally gifted opens up in a wealthy suburb in Colorado. Four previously close-knit mothers grow obsessed with the idea of getting their child into the school as a matter of pride, but in trying to do so they risk relationships with each other, their spouses, and their children. When their lives are revealed to themselves through the lens of a teenage girl's vlog, they realize that they have become monstrous in their parental ambitions. But, before they can make amends for their behavior, a precocious chess prodigy makes a scientific discovery about them that will change their worlds forever. Along the way, the novel explores the ramifications of academic pressure, vicarious parenting, cruelty, female friendship, and the opportunity gap.