Friday Book Review (on Monday): GIRLS WITH BRIGHT FUTURES

At an exclusive private school in Seattle, three senior girls vie for one spot at Stanford University, and their mothers will do (almost) anything to ensure their own daughter is the one chosen.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but the authors built a delicate house of cards and then skillfully took it apart, piece-by-piece. Each revealed card bringing a new plot twist or action (usually by the moms, but occasionally a dad) that left me thinking, "You've got to be kidding" or "People actually do this?" I soon found myself unable to stop reading. 

As a mom with a son in graduate school and a daughter in college, I've recently been through the college application process. I'm thankful our experience was nothing like the ones portrayed in this book and though I know it's fiction, at times it felt all too real. It made me think about the pressure we put on our kids and how what we think we're doing for their own good, might be the worst thing we could do.