Admissions

The Tuesday after Labour Day marks the official start of private school admission season, the affluent Manhattan parents' version of blood sport. But for Helen Drager, mother of Zoe, it shouldn't be such an ordeal. After all, Helen's best friend Sara is an admissions officer at Zoe's current K-8. But Sara's position becomes more precarious, and Helen soon finds herself drawn ever deeper into the mounting lunacy generated by the fierce competition. Will her husband, a TV Food Network producer, consent to creating a show around the Headmistress of the Fancy Girls School to give Zoe an edge there?If so, it just might help her compete with her former friend Claire, whose family vacation in Provence was devoted to ingratiating themselves to the Headmistress who runs a cooking school there. Helen depends on her friendship with Sara to help her through this troubled time - but Sara has problems of her own. Her boss, Pamela, Head of The School, is growing drunk with her own power, making capricious decisions about school admissions policy, kowtowing to celebrity children in ways that are strictly against the school's philosophy, and just plain disappearing from sight during school hours.
Will Pamela undermine the reputation of The School? Will Zoe get into the school of her choice? Will the Dragers have to donate a small nation to accomplish this goal?