Set in the neurotic world of a high-strung high school, Acceptance introduces us to such characters as AP Harry (a nickname derived from the unprecedented number of Advanced Placement courses he’s taken) and Maya Kaluantharana, whose mother wants to have her diagnosed with a learning disability so she can boost her already strong SAT scores by retaking the exam with special accommodations. Acclaimed novelist Susan Coll is at the height of her wry, perceptive powers as the college countdown ticks away for Harry, Maya, and the other students at Verona High, an elite public school in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

On the other side of the equation is Olivia Sheraton, an admissions staffer charged with recruiting prestige itself to Yates University, a dilapidated liberal-arts school enjoying a new surge in popularity thanks to a statistical error that landed it on U.S. News & World Report’s list of top colleges. Balancing political pressure from colleagues with a daily quest simply to find a remarkable applicant, Olivia discovers that the price of acceptance fluctuates wildly. And as they navigate the turbulence of writing personal essays and taking standardized tests, the seniors from Verona are about to learn a similar lesson.

By turns comic and compassionate, Acceptance delivers a provocative look at the climbers and clout brokers of higher education.