Summary

In the prologue, eleven-year-old Emma Zellar takes the CogPro test. She cannot remember the answer to one of the questions. Just as she figures it out, she drops her pencil and then the test monitor says the test is over.

Part 1 begins with an ad in the New York Times for the Head of School at Crystal Academy, a new public school in Colorado that caters to exceptionally gifted students.

In Chapter 1, Rose was working as a neurosurgeon in the children’s ward when her husband, Gareth, texted her and asked her if she would like to go out to dinner. She did not want to, but their counselor had mandated the weekly dates, so she agreed. Before the date, though, she went to meet her friends, Azra, Samantha, and Lauren, for cocktails. They all had children about the same age, so...