Drawn from the headlines children of privilege whose parents buy their admission to college.A really well written story told from the daughters POV..A book I will be recommending to you g adults and their parents ,#netgalley#randomhouse

Really liked this book felt like it was a title ripped from the headlines I would definitely recommend it for students especially as a quick summer read

Chloe, 17-year old narrator, is the daughter of a B+ actor and quite privileged in every way. So, when she opens her front door to the FBI with guns drawn, she has no idea why...or does she? This story, alternately told using present times and past, examines white privilege, the college admission scandal, and one's legal/ethical culpability. Timely, honest and eye-opening.

I liked the way the author focused on the student and not the parents in this flipped version of the college scandal that has rocked the entertainment world. Seeing the way things played out through Chloe’s eyes made it more intriguing. She’s stuck between a rock and hard place, not understanding why she needs this Dr. Wilson to help and trying to figure out a way to tell her parents she doesn’t need her parents over zealous help In getting accepted to a college, not necessarily of her choice.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Press for an eARC of this novel.

Admission by Julie Buxbaum is a novel that is based on the college admission bribery scandal that ROCKED the country. So of course, it is no surprise that I was drawn to read this book based on the plot alone. ( Side note, what is it about completely losing yourself in someone else’s made up drama that feels so liberating and almost healing during this time.. just me?)

This novel tells the story of Chloe Berringer and the big fat mess her mother envelops her in as she embarks on her senior year of high school and begins the long winded college admission process. Chloe comes to find out that she is painfully average compared to her top performing best friend, Shola; her sister, Isla, and her boyfriend, Levi. As the daughter of a famous sitcom star, Chloe has lived a privileged life and is only just now beginning to realize what this could mean for her future.


Seriously I read this in one sitting and my hands were glued to my iPad for the entirety of the novel. The author hooks you from the jump by opening the novel with the arrest of her mother and then continuing to alternate between a “then” and “now” perspective that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I’ll be honest, I enjoyed this book so much more than i expected to. I was nervous that the author would discuss this topic without touching on the overwhelming amount of privilege awarded to these already privileged kids. In my opinion, the author did an incredible job pointing out all of the differences in embedded privilege that these kids are afforded ranging from private tutors, to private admission counselors ( I had no idea these were a thing btw) & etc. As the details of the scandal unfold, the readers are taken on a journey as Chloe works to understand her privilege and complicity in the act.


Can we just acknowledge that scandals like these are the REAL affirmative action cases? Stories like these are living proof that America has never had a true ¨merit based system for college admission. These institutions have always been set in place for the wealthy. When you think about the fact that white people are willing to go to such lengths to maintain their status, but are so fiercely opposed to affirmative action, it becomes clear that what white people are actually afraid of is their privilege being taken away from them and given to someone that they deem as less deserving

Admission:

A YA historical fiction based on the infamous ‘College Admission Scam’ that happened in 2019 where conspiracy was done to influence undergraduate admission decisions at top American Universities. This book was well written and thought out from the author in such a short time span, as the case is still ongoing in 2020. This was my first time reading anything by this author, and I'm excited to get around to reading the other books that she has published. She has a unique and enjoyable writing style.

Admission was told in the main character Chloe’s POV between the past and present as she watches her famous mother Joy Fields deal with allegation charges of fraudulence. I liked that the author chose this style because it’s interesting to see what the child’s take on all of this is. As in the real-life scam with one of the several dozen charged including actress Lori McLaughlin who was accused of bribing her daughter in getting into The University of Southern California on an athletic scholarship, the media doesn’t have comments or stories from McLaughlins two daughters as their mother goes through the charges for conspiracy.

This is a timely book that will interest teens who are trying to get into college or who have been following the college admission scandals. The characters are real and interesting, very relatable. I was surprised how relatable even the spoiled rich children were. Julie Buxbaum captures the teenage experience.

Loved that the author was in the middle of writing another book when the admissions scandal broke out and she couldn’t help but write this one! Definitely mirrors what happened with the celebrities who were caught but told from the slightly clueless daughters POV.

This book explores the college admission scandals through the lens of a fictional girl named Chloe. She is living a good life, going to a prestigious private school, hanging out with her friends, and really not worrying all that much about school. As college admissions deadlines loom and she is still struggling with her SAT scores, her parents step in and hire a consultant. Unbeknownst to Chloe, the consultant alters her college application and her parents make donations to get her in to the school of her dreams. The book has an engaging before and after format and really takes into thought the victims in this kind of crime. An interesting, thought-provoking read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I had a hard time getting into it at first, but soon found myself sucked in to the world of college admissions scandals. I wasn't completely empathetic towards the family as a whole, as I felt they were so privileged that they had a hard time seeing the error of their ways and why they had to be punished for what they had done. I do think that was intentional on the author's part and can see why she made it that way. Something just felt off in the dynamic of the family as a whole.
I did, however, really like the relationships between Chloe and her mother and between Chloe and Isla. They were tender and really showed how vulnerable these characters felt around each other.
I also really enjoyed how much Chloe had grown during the book. She was really shallow at the beginning but really came to some realizations about herself and the world around her by the end. I enjoyed watching her journey from Point A to Point B.

I started reading this book right at the time my son was waiting to hear about admission to college and anxiety was high, so I put it down until today. Based on the recent college admissions scandal, this book is written from the POV of a student who benefitted from her parents’ use of a “college counselor.” The book is well-written and a quick YA read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Julie Buxbaum for the ARC of Admission in exchange for an honest review!

The college admissions process can be stressful and very difficult for many high school Juniors and Seniors. It is no different for Chloe Berringer, who is the daughter of a famous actress. Chloe has a good life, she attends a great high school, loves her best friend, Shola and has starting dating her dream guy, Levi. As she starts her senior year, she begins her admission process with the help of her mom and private admissions counselor. As her senior year goes on, she realizes that maybe her admission process is different than her other classmates. Will Chloe gain admission to her dream school or are the events happening in her life in relation to applying to college to good to be true?

First off, I really liked this book!! This books really sheds light on privilege and social status in regards to the college admissions scandal. I think this book did a great job of addressing issues in a way that young adults and adults alike can understand.

Overall, I’m giving this book a 3.75/5. I enjoyed the two different perspectives of the book, changing between “then” and “now”. I also liked the characters, but I felt like some could have used more development, like Shola and Isla. I enjoyed reading Chloe’s “coming of age” (in a sense) as she begins to understand how not only her actions, but also her families, effected her admissions process and caused her to loose everything.

This was a fast read and I think people will love it when it is published!!

Admission is a very timely novel about wealth and privilege, especially when it comes to the college admissions process. Inspired by the celeb admission scandal, the story follows Chloe, whose mom is a B-List celebrity. The story not only takes you through the fallout of the scandal, but the events leading up to it. Chloe has to come to terms with her involvement in the scam, as well as, the consequences this has on her social life.

*Minor spoilers*
Admission was a fairly quick read, but overall rather predictable. I would have like to seen more development of Chole and her friends. However I did really enjoy seeing how the different members of the family dealt with the consequences of their actions. I would love to see more from Isla and what Chloe does in the future.

A ripped-from the headlines novel exploring privilege and scandal in the college admissions process. As the mother of a high school senior, I viewed this book with interest. I appreciate the way Buxbaum (a longtime favorite author for me) weaves the narrative between past and present, and keeps things moving along at a great pace. This is a good read emerging from a frustrating situation. And I agree with the reviewer who said it was a good move by the publisher to push this book out to December, as it would likely be lost in the sea of larger challenges in the world right now.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me with a digital ARC of Admission in exchange for an honest review.
*3.5 stars*
I thought that this book did a really good job of examining various forms of privilege and how people benefit from it. The main character, Chloe, has lived a privileged life in many ways. While she is aware of some of her privileges, throughout the book she learns about how her silence has made her complicit in benefiting from privilege. I liked how the story switched back and forth between the present and the past, so that the reader can see how the actions in the past led the the consequences in the present. One thing that I did not like about this book was how Chloe relied on her Black best friend, Shola, to do the emotional labor of calling Chloe out when she makes privileged or entitled statements. Overall, this story was a fast read and I enjoyed how the author used the story of the college admissions scandal to open up conversations about privilege and accountability.

"Admission" is the perfect novel of our time, given the college admissions scandal that we've so much about on the news, with the wealthy, including several famous Hollywood starts, buying their children's way into top colleges through cheating on the SAT, to fake athletic endeavors of sports their kids have never participated in. High school Senior Chloe Wynn Berringer has a pretty good life- she has an amazing best friend, she's finally dating the boy she's had a crush on since middle school, and her mom, Hollywood actress Joy Fields, is starting to experience another upswing in her career. However, as Chloe watches her friends and boyfriend talk about the top Ivy League schools that they are hoping to get into for college, Chloe, who admittedly doesn't have the best of grades, is being advised by her college counselor at school that she needs to find schools that are more suitable for her to apply too, which is hard to hear given her dream school is the prestigious Southern California College (SCC). Chloe suddenly finds herself working with a college consultant, hired by her parents on the recommendation of her mom's best friend, and suddenly, she's receiving accommodations on the SAT, has been told she had ADHD, and they are tweaking her essays and asking for head-shot photos. Chloe receives the good news that she's been accepted to SCC, and she and her family could not be more excited. And then morning, Chloe answers the front door to find a row of FBI agents there to arrest her mother for her role in the college scam.

As more and more information comes out about the case, and Chloe is facing the possibility of being arrested herself, she needs to grapple with the fact that even though she wasn't actively and knowingly cheating on on her college admissions, does not saying anything when things came up that didn't seem right count as knowing? And if so, does that make her complicit and guilty as well?

"Admission" was a quick easy read, and an enjoyable one as well! I loved the way it alternated back and forth between then (before the FBI raid) to now (from the moment of the raid to the present) in telling the events that led up to Chloe's mom's arrest, as well as how the family, and Chloe are dealing with it currently.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delcorte Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s and Delacorte Press for the advance reader copy of Admission by awesome author, Julie Buxbaum, in exchange for an honest review. I was riveted by this ripped from the headlines novel dealing with the college admissions bribery scandal. Julie Buxbaum writes a compelling story to shed light on Chloe’s life THEN and Chloe’s life NOW as she unlocks her front door to the FBI one fateful morning. Senior Chloe was her own worst enemy at times. Her family has money, her mother is a TV star, but Chloe struggles in school, at home, and internally. As she worries over getting into a college and getting the grades she needs, her parents jump to pay for coaches to help her in writing and tutoring. Chloe’s best friend, Shola, was my favorite, a strong female character, she was always honest with Chloe and frank about her struggles as a product of Nigerian immigrant parents and their struggles with money. The THEN chapters reveal Chloe as very insecure, vacillating between trying to go along with her parents’ wishes and speaking up about what she wants. I could not stop turning the pages in the NOW as Chloe learns/lives the stark loneliness of being reviled by the world, her friends, her school. Throughout the scandal her younger, smarter sister, Isla, pushes Chloe to face reality and contemplate what exactly Chloe knew and when she knew it. Buxbaum’s novels packs a punch; I rooted for Chloe’s growth, maturity, and self-acceptance. In our world of fierce competition, what makes people do what they do, what makes people accept dishonesty? Readers will be sharing this book and talking about it often!

3.5. I think it was smart to postpone the pub date for this one--with everything going on lately, the college admissions scandal seems less and less pertinent. Also, when I read this, I couldn't help picturing Lori Loughlin and her family in the place of Chloe, Isla, and her parents, which was distracting.

Nevertheless, this was a fairly compelling read for me; I can't say I totally related to Chloe, but overall she's a pretty likable main character. I'm also glad that Buxbaum used this book as an opportunity to talk about inequity in the college admissions process, though Shola (Chloe's best friend, who is Black) having to explain certain things to Chloe and taking on the onus of this was a little infuriating. I also thought the ending was fitting.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

I highly enjoyed this character driven story as it does a good job explaining how a family would get to this point. I found Chloe's character very likable and easy to relate to which is probably one of the reasons I enjoyed the story so much. I also liked the fact that everything doesn't wrap up with an unnecessary happy ending but a realistic one, given the character interactions.

Thank you Random House Publishing for letting me have access to this ARC. Admission was a really intriguing read due to the connections I was able to make that has happened in the media recently with colleges. Chloe was a privileged girl who was living the life of her dreams until one day it all came crashing down. They dynamics between her relationship with her best friend was great because it has some underlying issues with race and topics that need to be discussed. The growth and change that happens with Chloe was fun to read and kept me interested through the entire book.