The Ivy Chronicles

Written by Karen Quinn

Narrated by Julia Gibson

Fans of New York Times best-seller The Nanny Diaries will rejoice in this wickedly hilarious novel. Ivy Ames loses her job and husband in the same day. To pay for her daughters' private schooling, she starts a new business helping wealthy Manhattanites get their rEsumE-toting youngsters into the best kindergartens. Soon her clients include media moguls, mob bosses and a lesbian couple that believes their adopted African-American disabled son is "the triple crown of diversity," who schools will clamor to enroll. Prepare to laugh uncontrollably-and possibly be a little frightened-by this witty look at our sometimes preposterous society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 25, 2005
• ISBN: 9781436101059

Karen Quinn

Karen Quinn has tutored scores of children and taught hundreds of parents how to work with their own kids to prepare them for the rigorous kindergarten admissions tests for Manhattan's most in-demand programs.  She has been a featured expert on school admissions on ABC's 20/20 and The View and in The New York Times, Forbes, Redbook, Woman's Day, and more. Karen is also the author of three novels: Holly Would Dream, The Ivy Chronicles and Wife in the Fast Lane. She lives in Miami, FL with her husband and two children. Visit her at www.karenquinn.net.

Reviews for The Ivy Chronicles

[miss_read_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Unintelligent, unseemly, uninteresting and unreadable.

[yonitdm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great read. You really feel for the main character as she grows, struggles, succeeds, and fails,

[3rs_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

We get by with a little help from our friends has never been portrayed with such an ingenious mixture of passion, humor and what could only be defined as sheer female empowerment. Author Karen Quinn takes us inside one woman’s journey from the top, to the bottom and back to the top again. Ivy Ames…devoted wife and loving mother of two, was living “the good life.” With a combined annual income of two million plus, the Ames’ family had all the luxuries and perks of the social elite. Eight months ago, Ivy’s husband, Cadmon, lost his job and instead of cutting back on expenditures, they continued to revel in the lavish lifestyle they had grown so accustomed too. On a typical, all too hectic morning, Ivy had barely managed to get herself to the bank on-time, when she is caught off guard by a note summoning her to the boss’ office. You could have knocked her over with a feather when she heard him say “human resources has your package, a car will take you home…” The words kind-of-faded into a blur. After a day filled with indignities and humiliation, she longed for the warm, sympathetic embrace of Cad’s arms. But that was not to be…As the smell of orange bubble-bath was wafting through the air, she opened the door to the bathroom, only to find her husband bathing a naked woman. It was Sassy! The wife of the man that had caused her to lose her job! Enraged, embarrassed and deeply hurt she ordered Sassy out of the house, threatening to drop a hair dryer into the bath water if she did not leave immediately. Refusing to let Cad she her cry, she turned and with all the strength she could muster, she gave him his walking orders as well. It is this one devastating day that lays the foundation for the rest of the novel. With her life in shambles, Ivy embarks on a new career, setting up a business that caters to parents that want their children in the most elite kindergarten programs on earth. A wonderful idea that just needed a boost to get off the ground. Her best friend, Faith, was wealthy and more than willing to help in any way possible. With a few well placed phone calls to her high society acquaintances, Ivy’s referral box began filling up. There’s a host of outlandish, colorful personalities that make up Ivy’s clientele, each adding their own unique flavor to the story. There’s a single father with mob ties; a mixed religion couple; a mom who tries to bribe the board at every school; a gay couple with a wheel-chair bound adopted son; etc. Ivy endures an ongoing cycle of nerve-racked parents having mental-melt-downs during the application process and crazed parents bombarding her with verbal assaults. She quickly discovers these parents do not recognize the morally accepted boundaries of right and wrong…when it comes to securing a slot on the kindergarten-roster of their choosing, anything goes! Snooty, snobbish, egocentric and over-the-top, Karen Quinn’s novel “The Ivy Chronicles” is a tongue-in-cheek read that delivers exactly what was promised…a light hearted read, filled with quaint characters and quick wit. While criss-crossing moral and ethical boundaries in hopes of being accepted to an elite kindergarten is wrong on so many levels, it it is the catalyst propelling the humorous insanity. Putting the idea of elite, prep-style kinder-care into perspective for these folks would be impossible. But then again so was the concept of downsizing for Ivy, as she continued to carry her Barney’s shopping bag everywhere, hoping to portray that up-town image she missed so desperately. If you’re looking for a Saturday afternoon read that doesn’t require a lot of thought…that you can just read for the light and fluffy experience…The Ivy Chronicles is a good choice. Fun and seemingly far-fetched, I couldn’t help but wonder with Quinn’s insider knowledge, how far did she stretch the characters, if at all? I am anxious to see what Warner Brothers does with this zany cast of characters, as the book has been optioned and Catherine Zeta-Jones will be starring in the movie! Happy Reading!

[conanthelibr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I listened to a downloaded audio version - light, a little crude in places (sex scenes, too!), but particularly funny (or maybe not at all??) if you know the independent [private] school world, esp. in NYC. A little predictable and silly, though it did have some great one-liners here and there.

[carlym_35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a light, fluffy read about a rich New York mom who loses her job and finds her husband cheating, so she has to find a new job to support herself and her two daughters. She starts a business that helps parents navigate the admissions process for high-society private kindergarten. The characters aren't that realistic, but the book was entertaining.

[moonriver_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting read, though a little too out there for my liking, sometimes. I'm not sure how accurate it portrays what parents actually have to go through to get their kids into top notch Kindergarten schools, though. I liked the characters and also liked that there were characters that you just love to hate.

[kqueue_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable chick lit/mommy lit. Recommend to readers who liked "The Nanny Diaries", "I don't know how she does it" or "The Devil wears Prada." Also may appeal to readers who enjoy tales of exclusive private schools and high society.

[jennie_103 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable chick lit. Elements of it stuck in my head as well and by the end I really wanted to save the child from his damaging family.

[riverwillow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chick lit in all its glory. Passed the time quite well and if this is based on anything resembling truth I am glad that I don't have to deal with the private school system in NY - although finding the right nursery school in London is pretty bad now apparently.

[cecilturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the more refreshing "chick lit" books I've read recently. Instead of much whining and chocolate eating (although there is some, inevitably), Ivy pulls herself together to focus on her admissions consulting firm. The situations are burlesque and original with moral undertones for a bit of substance. Furthermore, the main character does grow and while the end is predictable, it is charming and not too idealized.

[picklechic · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good book. It was a funny, easy read. The main character wasn't easy to like for me because she was dishonest, but I wanted to like her so I tried to overlook her character flaws.

[jrez_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

a woman starts a business getting the children of wealthy families into posh pre-schools, which are suprisingly and unbelievably competitive. Liked the idea of the story so much. Did not like the main character as much as I would have liked to.

[janersm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a pretty good book. It was yet another book that I had never heard of before spotting it on the bookshelf at the local library. It was quite a bit better than many of the books I find that way, and many that I've heard of beforehand.The characters are interesting, though many aren't sympathetic. Of course, I don't think that they're supposed to be considered sympathetic, since this book is clearly pointing out the spoiled nature of the private school system and what a life of privilege is like in New York City. Most of the characters that I was turned off by when they were introduced turned out to be the schmucks that my gut had been telling me they were. There were times when unimportant parts of the book seemed to drag on, but there were also times when it seemed like some (more important) things were just skipped over completely. I guess that inconsistency is part of why I didn't give this book more stars. It was a bit of a sloppy story, which is something that I don't enjoy.The best way to describe this story is that it is basically a grown-up Clueless, moved to the Upper East Side from Beverly Hills, and dealing with spoiled socialites (and wannabe socialites) getting their kids into private school school to gain the approval of their peers, as opposed to socialites in the making trying to gain the approval of their peers at their high school. The same conniving and petty crap that you would expect from high school students is exhibited in so many of the characters. Most, if not all, of the characters are willing to sacrifice any sense of morals to get ahead. While that made some of it humorous, it also made it a bit disturbing.If you enjoy random chick lit, you will probably enjoy this book. It's also possible that if you like stories about sociopaths, you will enjoy this book.