Getting In — Karen Stabiner

In her nonfiction books about parenting--The Empty Nest, My Girl, and All Girls--Karen Stabiner won acclaim for her insights about living with teenagers. Now, in a heartwarming and hilarious new novel, she writes about the biggest challenge of all: getting a child into the perfect college. With a survivor's wit and a journalist's eye, she tells the story of five Los Angeles high school seniors and their parents as they navigate the obstacle course that is college admissions. Getting In follows these interconnected families--three at the tony Crestview School, two at its public counterpart, Ocean Heights High--in their pursuit of a fat envelope from their favorite schools. But the college application process is full of surprises, and each of the families has to scramble as their best-laid plans start to crumble. Ultimately, everyone--moms, dads, and applicants--discovers what the admissions process is really about: growing up. Getting In is a necessary distraction for all high-school parents, a hybrid of comic narrative and insider information.