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We're thrilled to introduce you to Amy Poeppel and her charming and funny new book, Small Admissions. Read on to learn more and don't forget to enter the giveaway to win your own copy!
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ABOUT SMALL ADMISSIONS:
In SMALL ADMISSIONS, despite Kate Pearson’s innate ambition and
Summa Cum Laude smarts, she has turned into a major slacker. After being
unceremoniously dumped by her handsome, French “almost fiancé,” she abandons
her grad school plans and instead spends her days lolling on the couch,
watching reruns of Sex and the City, and leaving her apartment only when a
dog-walking gig demands it. Her friends don’t know what to do other than pass
tissues and hope for a comeback, while her practical sister, Angela, pushes
every remedy she can think of, from trapeze class to therapy to job interviews.
Miraculously, and for
reasons no one (least of all Kate) understands, she manages to land a job in
the admissions department at the prestigious Hudson Day School. In her new
position, Kate learns there’s no time for self-pity or nonsense during the
height of the admissions season, or what her colleagues refer to as “the dark
time.” As the process revs up, Kate meets smart kids who are unlikable,
likeable kids who aren’t very smart, and Park Avenue parents who refuse to take
no for an answer.
Meanwhile, Kate’s
sister and her closest friends find themselves keeping secrets, hiding
boyfriends, dropping bombshells, and fighting each other on how to keep Kate on
her feet. On top of it all, her cranky, oddly charming, and irritatingly
handsome downstairs neighbor is more than he seems. Through every dishy,
page-turning twist, it seems that one person’s happiness leads to another’s
misfortune, and suddenly everyone, including Kate, is looking for a way to turn
rejection on its head, using any means necessary—including the truly
unexpected.
Amy began writing SMALL ADMISSIONS as a series of
comedic dialogues after she and her husband went through the nerve-wrecking
experience of interviewing at private schools for their sons. “I was convinced
we were spectacularly bad at it,” she explains, “and I couldn’t stop thinking
about how strangely we seemed to behave as soon as we sat down in front of an
admissions officer. Sometimes I thought my husband bragged too much about our
kids, other times I thought he was overly critical of them, and throughout the
interviews, I felt like I was running interference, and I hated the impression
we were making.” Soon after, she began working as the Assistant Director of Admissions
at a prestigious day school in Manhattan. From the other side of the desk, as
she interviewed parents, interacted with student applicants and participated in
the banter of the admissions staff, she developed an appreciation for the
nuanced drama and the pervasive humor of admissions, compounded by her previous
experiences as a nervous parent facing an admissions officer. With these dual
perspectives in mind, Poeppel set out to explore the absurd world of admissions
with warmth, humor and above all, a deep appreciation for devoted, anxious
parents and their dedicated admissions department counterparts, all through the
eyes of a clever, yet flailing young woman trying her best to make sense of the
acceptance and rejections in her own life.
PRAISE FOR SMALL ADMISSIONS:
“An excellent
debut.”
—Publishers Weekly
—Publishers Weekly
“Trenchant, funny, and observant...as a prose artist Ms.
Poeppel leaves nothing to be desired, except this desire: that she write more
and more, and as well as she does in this, her assured debut.”
—Hilton Als, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of White Girls and The Women
—Hilton Als, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of White Girls and The Women
"In this
absorbing story, Amy Poeppel brings her razor-sharp observations of the
postures and pretenses found in our culture, in our cities,and especially in
the world of admissions. Amy’s gift for dialogue, shown through the
sidesplitting banter between our appealing, young heroine and the parents and
children she interviews, will delight readers. Amy Poeppel displays a well of
insight, forgiveness and wit that not only marks a talented writer, but the
launch of what promises to be a marvelous career.”
—Diane Meier, author of The Seasons of Chances and Ritual and Style on a Changing Culture
—Diane Meier, author of The Seasons of Chances and Ritual and Style on a Changing Culture
“Amy Poeppel's writing
is the perfect mixture of hilarious and smart... She absolutely nails the world
of admissions in a funny, insightful and fabulous insider's look at this
fascinating microcosm of human nature. What a delicious read."
—Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately
—Lolly Winston, author of Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately
“Inside every
application folder is a story, and it is the job of the admissions officer to
find and make sense of those narratives. Amy Poeppel’s darkly funny debut
animates and exposes, with empathy and perspicacity, the anxiety, the
humanity,and the occasionally surreal stories within New York City’s intense,
competitive independent schools. And on top of all that, it is a wonderfully
entertaining read.”
—Kristin Harman, Head of Admissions, Trevor Day School
—Kristin Harman, Head of Admissions, Trevor Day School
“As Jean Hanff Korelitz did for
college in her novel Admission, Amy Poeppel artfully and hilariously describes
the gamesmanship in the high-stakes, high-anxiety world of New York City’s
private school admissions offices with spot-on dialogue and genuine insight. As
the novel unfolds, the reader finds that Small Admissions lead to bigger, more
important truths in the lives of the characters populating this hilarious book;
I couldn’t put it down.”
—David Harman, Headmaster, Poly Prep Country Day School
—David Harman, Headmaster, Poly Prep Country Day School
“A rare book that
actually makes you laugh out loud. Small Admissions offers a peek into the
world of New York City private school admissions, but the deadly insights
hardly stop there. Family, friendships,meetings(!)—Poeppel tells gleaming,
hilarious truths about them all.”
—Charity Shumway, author of Ten Girls to Watch
—Charity Shumway, author of Ten Girls to Watch
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Amy Poeppel is a graduate of Wellesley College. She
lives with her husband and three sons in New York City, where she worked in the
admissions department of a prestigious independent school. She workshopped a
theatrical version of SMALL ADMISSIONS at the Actors Studio
Playwrights/Directors Unit. She later expanded it into this novel.
CONNECT WITH AMY:
Win 1 of 3 signed copies of SMALL ADMISSIONS by Amy Poeppel! Just click the link directly above. Good luck!
REVIEW:
* * * 1/2
(Source: e-galley provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
Small Admissions is a
delightful read. Granted you're delighting in someone's world gone bizzaro
while her friends circle around her looking for ways to lift her spirits.
Even though the story is about Kate and her
drastic meltdown, you don't get to meet her immediately. Instead, her two
closest friends (Vicki and Chloe) and her sister (Angela) speak in cryptic terms about the circumstances surrounding her downward spiral. You'd think the
sky had fallen and there was panic in the streets the way they're reacting but
you have to be patient enough for the details to fall into place. Truthfully, I
didn't find Kate all that appealing until she began to climb out of her funk.
She's more of an academic and not quite adept at interacting with people. Her
mind just functions differently - a wee bit eccentric though not as bad as her
parents. No joke, wait until you meet them! Kate's essentially an adult-sized
child. Through working in the admissions office at the prestigious school, her
quirky personality appears. Her reactions to the snobby, entitled and often
dysfunctional parents are entertaining. Add to that the fact that she's
unqualified for the job and out of her depth means that you never know what's
going to happen. You also get to meet the parents of the kids trying to
enroll at Hudson Day School. Some of them are seriously so weird that you'll be
shaking your head.
Admittedly, several POVs in one story is not my thing. This time though I was impressed because it felt they served a different function than I've experienced with other stories that employ the same tactic. In Small Admissions, I saw Kate differently depending on whose POV it was. To Angela, she seems incompetent and a burden; to Vicki she seems privileged and irritating, and to Chloe, she seems like a charity case. I definitely appreciated how Poeppel made Kate's character so multifaceted that way.
As I read along, I kept thinking that I'd like it to see it as an indie a movie because I wanted to witness these characters live and in action. Small Admissions is all about off-the-wall humour and wacky personalities, and is sure to strike the right chord with any reader looking for just that!
~ Bel
