May 1, 2018
Gr 9 Up-A humorous beginning turns spy thriller as Mischa and her high school friends delve into the mystery of her unanimous college rejection. Mischa seems to have it all planned: attend a private school on scholarship, join every club, have stellar test scores, get into a great college. When rejection letters arrive not only from her reach schools, but also from her safety school, panic sets in. Something is definitely wrong. With the help of Ophelia One-a group of girls dedicated to spying and hacking-Mischa discovers that someone is truly out to get her. Shady Instagram posts appear on her account and threats are made demanding that she back off. When it seems as if it's all too much and she's ready to give up, Mischa discovers a disturbing fact. Not only were her scores and recommendation letters doctored to look bad, her boyfriend's scores and 16 others' scores were doctored to look good. Sell this book as a mystery thriller not as humor, as the comedy diffuses fairly quickly. Students in the midst of college applications will empathize with Mischa's stress. VERDICT Purchase for medium to large collections.-Lisa Ehrle, Falcon Creek Middle School, CO
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
June 4, 2018
Mischa Abramavicius, 18, is certain that being the best student at exclusive Blanchard High will open doors to a top college and set her on a path toward a better future. Despite her high test scores and a stellar GPA, however, Mischa is rejected from every school that she applies to, including her safety school. Detecting that someone has purposefully derailed her life, Mischa attempts to get help from her school’s dean and college counselor. When no help is forthcoming, she teams up with a group of girl hackers, who call themselves the Ophelias, to find out who might be cruel enough to act against her. In her sophomore effort, Kaplan (Grendel’s Guide to Love and War) takes on the highly stressful world of college admissions. Written with humor and heart, her cautionary tale is a reminder that students are more than their GPA and test scores—or, as one Ophelia puts it, “That avatar is not you.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Assoc.
June 1, 2018
Grades 8-12 Mischa Abramavicius understood the college admission process. Get perfect grades and SAT scores, send out the applications, and wait for the acceptance letters. But when she gets rejected by every college she applies to, from the Ivies to her safety school, she knows something has gone wrong. Even as she works to uncover a plot at her high school that goes way beyond her own college crisis, she begins to wonder, if she isn't a college-bound overachiever, who is she? This funny novel offers an honest look at the pressure high-schoolers feel to succeed. Kaplan (Grendel's Guide to Love and War, 2017) does a great job of building tension around the private-school plot and the fierce group of girl coders who help Mischa uncover it, while also balancing a compelling romantic subplot. Reminiscent of the rejection-sparked identity crisis of Laurie Halse Anderson's Catalyst (2002), Mischa's story will draw readers in with her unique, yet totally relatable quest to find out not just who she is but whether that's who she wants to be.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)
September 1, 2018
High school junior Mischa Abramavicius's single, second-generation immigrant mother works hard to pay her prep-school tuition, so Mischa works hard building her resume to get to the Ivy League. Her dreams, however, are thwarted when she's rejected everywhere. Mischa investigates this seeming academic injustice while grappling mightily with the shame of failure. She narrates with a sharp, sarcastic voice that portrays her desperate panic in a humorous and sympathetic light: My prospects have moved into the sewer?the sewer's too nice. I need an uglier metaphor?A septic tank. My future resides in a septic tank. How am I supposed to tell my mother my future is in a septic tank? Aside from her work ethic, Mischa is a bit of a blank slate, and as she gets to know herself without the pressure of academic achievement, readers get to know her as well. With the help of three hackers who operate under the guise of an all-girls STEM club, Mischa eventually uncovers scandalous administrative application-tampering. But while she's putting clues together, Mischa tries living a life that really interests her?and honest conversations, kissing her best male friend, and skydiving prove so much more satisfying than passionless striving. An overachiever learns there's more to life than grades: it's a familiar theme, but one that is buoyed here by thoughtful observations on class, ambition, and the value and hazards of education?as well as by an engaging mystery. jessica tackett macdonald
(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)