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May 16, 2016
Reshma Kapoor will do anything to ensure her spot as valedictorian, including suing her school for changing its grading policy just prior to her senior year. The lawsuit—and Reshma’s subsequent op-ed in the Huffington Post, “Double Standards for Asian Students”—lead her to sign with a literary agent, Linda Montrose, telling her that she has been working on a YA novel (which she has not). Like Linda, who believes the diary-like manuscript Reshma assembles is fictional, readers will easily fall for debut author Kanakia’s heroine, even when she’s at her most ruthless or misguided. When Reshma realizes that a good book needs romance and friendship, she approaches these hurdles in her typically calculating way: she blackmails Alex (a classmate who has been selling her Adderall) into being her best friend and starts making romantic overtures toward another student, Aakash. Kanakia’s mordantly funny story of an overachiever who takes “write what you know” to new extremes will give college-bound readers (and their parents) a gentle wake-up call that success can come in a variety of forms. Ages 14–up. Agent: John Cusick, Folio Literary Management.

October 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Any student who has ever been the victim of a teacher's favoritism toward a classmate or felt the sting of subtle but undeniable discrimination will love to hate Reshma Kapoor. Determined to get into Stanford despite her relatively low SAT scores, she'll stop at nothing to be top of her class. But to guarantee her acceptance, Reshma needs to stand out from all of the other Silicon Valley overachievers, and she thinks she's found the perfect hook. She's going to publish a novel before the end of senior year. There's just one problem; her publisher wants a story that young people will appreciate, but Reshma knows nothing about being a normal teen. So she assigns herself a six-week research project in which she must make a friend, attend a party, find a boyfriend, and have sex-and she is not afraid to use blackmail. Just as she's beginning to accomplish her goals, however, she's accused of plagiarism. Everything she's worked so hard for her entire academic career is on the line. But there is not a defeatist bone in Reshma's body, and she won't go down without dragging everyone else with her. Teens will relate to the outrageous academic pressure, subjective bias, ethnic discrimination, and cutthroat business dealings that have led to Reshma's deplorable behavior. Her encounters with friend Alex and her unbalanced therapist will keep readers laughing. VERDICT This book will do well among teens wherever academic expectations run high.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

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