Synopses & Reviews
"Karen Stabiner's GETTING IN [is] humorous (in a wry kind of way) but pointed and surprisingly engaging novel about parental and teen obsessiveness regarding the college application process in independent schools and the debilitating, distorting impact of it on kids and families. Must read for college-prep kids and their parents."
--Patrick Basset, President, National Association of Independent Schools
"A savvy insider's take on a high-stakes, cutthroat campaign--except it's not about getting into the White House, but about getting into the perfect college. Stabiner's sharp, witty tale is as essential as a good SAT prep course--but a hell of a lot more fun."
--Arianna Huffington
"Getting In takes an edgy, knowing look inside the lives and minds of love-crazed parents--galvanized equally by desperation and devotion--as they try with all their might to thrust their cherished children into the universities of their dreams."
--Carolyn See, Making a Literary Life
"Karen Stabiner has clearly been through the crazy circus that is college admissions, and lucky for the rest of us she took pitch-perfect notes. You will come away from her book reassured that all the other families of applicants are even loonier than yours--or reassured that you fit right in. What do you mean, this is fiction?"
--Lisa Belkin, New York Times parenting writer (and hardy survivor of her son's college application process)
Q: What does a parent need to survive the college application process?
A. A sense of humor.
B. A therapist on 24-hour call.
C. A large bank balance.
D. All of the above.
Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school--even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual price tag, even if the effort requires a level of deceit, and even if the object of all this attention wants to go somewhere else.
Getting In is a delightfully smart comedy of class and entitlement, of love and ambition, set in a world where a fat envelope from a top school matters more than anything . . . almost.
Review
"An edgy, knowing look inside the lives of love-crazed parents, as they try to thrust their cherished children into the universities of their dreams."--Carolyn See
Review
"Karen Stabiner has clearly been through the crazy circus that is college admissions, and lucky for the rest of us she took pitch-perfect notes. You will come away from her book reassured that all the other families of applicants are even loonier than yours -- or reassured that you fit right in. And you'll pick up some pretty nifty tips about how to play the game. What do you mean, this is fiction?"--Lisa Belkin, New York Times parenting writer (and hardy survivor of her son's college application process)
Review
"Karen Stabiner's Getting In [is] humorous (in a wry kind of way) but pointed and surprisingly engaging novel about parental and teen obsessiveness regarding the college application process in independent schools and the debilitating, distorting impact of it on kids and families. Must read for college-prep kids and their parents."--Patrick Basset, President, National Association of Independent Schools
Review
"A savvy insider's take on a high-stakes, cutthroat campaign--except it's not about getting into the White House, but about getting into the perfect college. Stabiner's sharp, witty tale is as essential as a good SAT prep course--but a hell of a lot more fun."--Arianna Huffington
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
Q: What does a parent need to survive the college application process?
A. A sense of humor.
B. A therapist on 24-hour call.
C. A large bank balance.
D. All of the above.
Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school--even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual price tag, even if the effort requires a level of deceit, and even if the object of all this attention wants to go somewhere else.
Getting In is a delightfully smart comedy of class and entitlement, of love and ambition, set in a world where a fat envelope from a top school matters more than anything . . . almost.
Synopsis
In a heartwarming and hilarious new novel, the author of nonfiction books on parenting writes about the biggest challenge of all: getting a child into the perfect college.
Synopsis
Q: What does a parent need to survive the college application process?
A. A sense of humor.
B. A therapist on 24-hour call.
C. A large bank balance.
D. All of the above.
Getting In is the roller-coaster story of five very different Los Angeles families united by a single obsession: acceptance at a top college, preferably one that makes their friends and neighbors green with envy. At an elite private school and a nearby public school, families devote themselves to getting their seniors into the perfect school--even if the odds are stacked against them, even if they can't afford the $50,000 annual price tag, even if the effort requires a level of deceit, and even if the object of all this attention wants to go somewhere else.
Getting In is a delightfully smart comedy of class and entitlement, of love and ambition, set in a world where a fat envelope from a top school matters more than anything . . . almost.
About the Author
Karen Stabiner, the author of seven books, is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times Opinion section and many other major publications. Her response to the hype about troubled teenage girls, My Girl: Adventures with a Teen in Training, was a finalist for the 2005 Books for a Better Life award. She lives in Santa Monica, California, with her husband; their daughter, Sarah, left for college in the fall of 2007.