Girls with Bright Futures

Written by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

Narrated by Mia Barron

The perfect book club read with a suspenseful bite—when it comes to their daughters’ future, three women are about to discover if there are any lines not worth crossing …

College admissions season at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Academy is marked by glowing acceptances from top-tier institutions and students as impressive as their parents are ambitious. But when Stanford alerts the school it’s allotting only one spot to EBA for their incoming class, three mothers discover the competition is more cutthroat than they could have imagined.

Tech giant Alicia turns to her fortune and status to fight for her reluctant daughter’s place at the top. Kelly, a Stanford alum, leverages her PTA influence and insider knowledge to bulldoze the path for her high-strung daughter. And Maren makes three: single, broke, and ill-equipped to battle the elite school community aligning to bring her superstar down.

That’s when, days before applications are due, one of the girls suffers a near-fatal accident, one that doesn’t appear to be an accident at all.

As the community spirals out of control, three women will have to decide what lines they’re willing to cross to secure their daughters’ futures … and keep buried the secrets that threaten to destroy far more than just college dreams.

For readers of The Gifted School, Girls with Bright Futures combines the college admissions scandal with the edge of Big Little Lies, the snark of Class Mom, and the schadenfreude of watching the elite implode.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781980063735

Reviews for Girls with Bright Futures

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fun, fast-paced, and often shocking story that cannot be put down.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“...as long as you had the money and status to back you up, every line was made to be crossed.”When Stanford alerts the elite Elliot Bay Academy it only has only one early offer place for its graduating students, the competition for the slot quickly spirals out of control. Tech mogul Alicia is determined that her daughter, Brooke, will attend Stanford no matter the cost, Kelly will do anything to ensure her daughter Krissie will be the chosen one, while Maren, with none of the advantages of her wealthy rivals, and her job as Alicia’s PA on the line, doesn’t know how to tell her daughter, Winnie, that her Stanford dream is over.With excellent pacing Girls With Bright Futures unfolds over two timelines and from three perspectives. It begins with a prologue which reveals one of the three Stanford hopefuls has been the victim of a hit and run, and then moves to a few weeks prior as Maren and Winnie are being informed by the school’s college counselor that Winnie needs to rethink her application to Stanford. It’s immediately clear to them both that while Winnie is the strongest academic candidate, Brooke has the edge because of her mother’s wealth and status. While Winnie isn’t willing to back down, Alicia has made it clear to Maren that should Winnie compete with Brooke for the spot, Maren will be fired, and renege on a secret deal that provides financial support for Winnie’s schooling. Meanwhile Kelly, PTA President and Stanford alum, whose daughter is perpetually in 2nd place to Winnie, and is not quite wealthy or powerful enough to compete with Alicia, attempts to topple Krissie’s rivals with gossip and innuendo.With my own daughter having graduated highschool last year, I am so glad for the far more egalitarian higher education system in place here. While the authors insist that the events in this novel are an exaggerated, they seem all too plausible given recent, and past events in the US news. Some parents have already proved they are willing to do anything to ensure their precious offspring has every advantage, and when they can’t earn it, they are willing to pay, manipulate, or even kill (hello Texas Cheerleader Mom) to ensure it. Alicia Stone is a character you love to hate, selfish and entitled she wields her privilege without mercy. Her behaviour is repetitively appalling, there is more than one instance in which she takes advantage of Winnie, and as Maren’s employer she is endlessly demanding. Brooke is an extension of her ego, rather than a person in her own right. As for Kelly, her whole self is invested in her children’s achievements and while she definitely crosses the line, at least she recognises there is one.Naturally it’s Maren that attracts the most sympathy, a single mom doing everything she can to support her bright daughter but caught in a difficult situation, given her reliance on her employer. And is if that’s not enough, she is totally blindsided when her rivals machinations dig up a painful secret from her past. For me, the authors struck just the right note with Girls With Bright Futures. I found the pace to be addictive, the drama wickedly entertaining, and the epilogue hugely satisfying.

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Elliott Bay Academy surely is the best school you can find in Seattle. Thus, the kids of the superrich can be found there, making friends who can be useful later in life. Yet, when college admission process starts, things become a bit tense since now, they are competing for places at the best universities. Alicia Stone is quite relaxed even though her daughter isn’t he brightest, but her money can make up for this. A huge donation to Stanford, a professor to write the essays - this should be enough to secure the place. Kelly, who herself attended Stanford, also wants to get her daughter in. Krissie’s results are brilliant but due to the limited financial means, Kelly must use information and especially gossip to bring her girl into a good starting position. The fight will be hard, especially when the prestigious university announces to only accept one pupil from EBA. Alicia and Kelly can do the maths: it will be difficult to pass Winnie, outstanding and excelling student of a single parent mother with no means or connections. Mothers can become tigers when they fight for their kids, but Winnie’s mum Maren never would have believed that they would be ready to kill her girl to get what they want.If it wasn’t for the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal, I would classify Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman’s novel highly entertaining but far from reality. However, the fraud revealed showed that this isn’t a topic parents take easy but are willing to risk everything just to get a place at the supposedly best school. Living in a country where university admission works in a totally different way and where the idea of top universities you have to have graduated from to have the chance of a career is more or less non-existent, it is fascinating and repellent at the same time to look in the characters’ heads and to follow their trains of thought.The whole story is centred around the three mother-daughter-teams, yet, that’s all they share. Alicia is in a top position of a tech company and her outstanding career makes her a well-known and admired person everywhere. Her tough workday has some secondary effects, though, she somehow has lost connection with her daughter and doesn’t care about her feelings or wishes but expects her to comply with her commands just as her employees and her husband. Kelly and Krissie’s relationship isn’t healthy either, the girl can hardly support the pressure that her parents put on her. Winnie and Maren are in a totally different situation. Winnie is gifted and has set her mind on going to Stanford, she’s got no help at all, but worked hard for her dream and is convinced that she deserves it. Maren loves her daughter but she also knows that the price will be high if Winnie is accepted: working for Alicia she will surely lose her job and not easily find anything else. She knows her boss well and she has no doubts about what Alicia is capable of when she is angered by someone. Nevertheless, Maren cannot believe that Alicia might be behind the hit-and-run that nearly kills Winnie. It is these mixed feelings between fascination and utter disgust that keep you reading. More than once I thought this is totally unbelievable but then, well, the mothers are competing about the top position in the game of “who is willing to go to the maximum and throw all scruples and morals overboard”. Simultaneously, seeing who many characters suffer, what this behaviour does to the families and, first and foremost, the daughters, is totally sad. Hilariously narrated with wonderfully crafted characters and also interesting side plots, an outstanding novel which, if it weren’t for its lengths, I would have read in one sitting.