Initiation

...I had no idea what could come of packing all those boys into one school building...how the competition would play out in relentless insults, the constant sorting out that went on every day, all day, to determine who was okay and who was worthless.

The halls of St. Stephen's reek of money, secrets, and desperation. Competition to be top dog at the Manhattan private school is fierce. But Mauricio Londono--Latino, middle-class, and new to the brutality of prep school life--just wants to survive ninth grade.

Apartments the size of a city block...Vacations in the Hamptons... Being near all this extravagance, intellect, and beauty is a thrill. But navigating their sparkling world is another story. When two warring freshmen use the Web as a weapon, Mauricio gets burned in the online crossfire and learns firsthand how the privileged don't always play by the rules.

Susan Fine (Chicago, Illinois)was an English teacher and has worked in private schools, including an all-boys school in New York City.

The halls of St. Stephen's reek of money, secrets, and desperation. Competition to be top dog at the Manhattan private school is fierce. But Mauricio Londono--Latino, middle-class, and new to the brutality of prep school life--just wants to survive ninth grade. Apartments the size of a city block... Vacations in the Hamptons... Being near all this extravagance, intellect, and beauty is a thrill. But navigating their sparkling world is another story. When two warting freshmen use the Web as a weapon, Mauricio gets burned in the online crossfire and learns firsthand how the privileged don't always play by the rules.

Mauricio Londono's goal for his freshman year at St. Stephen's is simple: basic survival.

I had no idea what could come of packing all those boys into one school building, how the competition would play out in relentless insults, the constant sorting-out that went on every day, all day, to determine who was okay and who was worthless.

Terrified and feeling like an uninvited guest at the all-boys St. Stephen's School, Mauricio Londono sets his main goal for freshman year: basic survival. But despite his efforts to tiptoe through the school year, Mauricio can't resist the allure of the world inhabited by his precocious classmates and the drama that plays out on FaceSpace. When a cruel digital scheme sweeps through the school, Mauricio not only becomes one of its victims but also starts to think that maybe it's not so bad to be honest about who he really is.