The Gifted School - Bruce Holsinger

You have probably seen those bumper stickers around town that say something like “My Kid Is an Honor Student at Such and Such Elementary School.” Do you find those as sad as I find them? Every time I see one, I can’t help but think of those parents in the carpool line whose children have learning disabilities or other things going on in their lives that keep them from being “honor roll kids” and how the sticker must make them (parent and child alike) feel. It’s bad enough that even youth sports teams are so cut-throat today that kids whose parents can’t afford to hire private coaches find it hard to compete with kids whose parents can. These kids start competing for college scholarships when they are ten years old, and their parents hope that the thousands of dollars spent on private coaching and cross-country travel will give their kids the edge they need to get noticed by the big-name schools. But is that the only reason they do it?

Bruce Holsinger doesn’t think so. Holsinger’s The Gifted School looks at a group of parents in fictitious Crystal, Colorado, that have a different reason for demanding that their kids excel in everything they do. These parents, many of whom regret their own youthful mistakes and failures, are busy reliving their own childhoods through those of their children. They are so invested in the success of their children that failure is not an option, resulting in the kind of unbearable pressure on the kids that can lead to burnout, drugs, or even suicide. Four young Crystal couples are about to learn all of this the hard way.

The four couples have been close friends for over a decade – ever since bonding over their toddlers – and they have always been there for each other in times of need. They may have first met when their kids were just babies, but now those babies are headed for middle school, their parents are doing well financially (some more so than others), and it’s time to start preparing their children for the future their parents want for them. So when the Crystal public school system announces the creation of a special new school for only the very brightest middle and high school students in the district, the friends all want to ensure that their kids make the final cut. This is not going to be easy because only 1,000 of the 100,000 students in the area will be accepted into the new school. 

Bruce Holsinger

The first cut is made via the kind of standardized test that the Crystal students have been taking all their lives, so other than paying for private coaching and study plans, there is little that any of the parents can do to gain their child an advantage. The second phase of the process, however, requires each qualifying student to create a “portfolio” highlighting a special skill, talent, or interest they possess, something that will impress the judges enough to choose them over even someone with a higher round-one test score. 

So now the fun begins. Is playing strictly by the rules the best thing they can do for their children, or is this the time to bend those rules to their breaking points and beyond? As the pressure mounts, friendships crack, marriages crumble, and people surprise themselves with what they are willing to do to get their kids in the gifted school.

Bottom Line: The Gifted School is a satirical indictment of the compete-through-your-kids culture that is so prevalent today. Too many people are guilty of stealing their children’s childhoods right out from under them, and Holsinger shows here just how bad an idea that is. If this one opens a few eyes, it will have done its job. The novel is filled with interesting characters from multiple generations – and it has an ending that will probably surprise you. Even though this one has a serious message, it's fun.