Saturday, August 22, 2015

ARE YOU LISTENING? THE ADMISSIONS: A PREVIEW

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S" 
ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY" 
I AM EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU ABOUT 
THIS RECENT AUDIO BOOK I RECEIVED
******************************************* 
THE ADMISSIONS
READ BY ALLYSON RYAN
BY MEG MITCHELL MOORE

ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK:
The Admissions brilliantly captures the frazzled pressure cooker of modern life as a seemingly perfect family comes undone by a few desperate measures, long-buried secrets—and college applications!

The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful house in one of the most affluent areas of northern California, and three charming kids with perfectly straight teeth. And then comes their eldest daughter’s senior year of high school . . .
     
Firstborn Angela Hawthorne is a straight-A student and star athlete, with extracurricular activities coming out of her ears and a college application that’s not going to write itself. She’s set her sights on Harvard, her father’s alma mater, and like a dog with a chew toy, Angela won’t let up until she’s basking in crimson-colored glory. Except her class rank as valedictorian is under attack, she’s suddenly losing her edge at cross-country, and she can’t help but daydream about the cute baseball player in English class. Of course Angela knows the time put into her schoolgirl crush would be better spent coming up with a subject for her term paper—which, along with her college essay and community service hours has a rapidly approaching deadline. 
     
Angela’s mother, Nora, is similarly stretched to the limit, juggling parent-teacher meetings, carpool, and a real-estate career where she caters to the mega rich and super-picky buyers and sellers of the Bay Area. The youngest daughter, Maya, still can’t read at the age of eight; the middle-child, Cecily, is no longer the happy-go-lucky kid she once was; and the dad, Gabe, seems oblivious to the mounting pressures at home because a devastating secret of his own might be exposed. A few ill-advised moves put the Hawthorne family on a heedless collision course that’s equal parts achingly real and delightfully screwball.
     
Sharp and topical, The Admissions shows that if you pull at a loose thread, even the sturdiest of lives start to unravel at the seams of high achievement.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MEG MITCHELL MOORE is the author of the novels The Arrivals and So Far Away. She lives in Newburyport, MA, with her husband and three daughters. Read more about this talented author by visiting her website "Bio" HERE.

OTHER BOOKS BY MEG MITCHELL MOORE:
                              
 PRAISE FOR THE ADMISSIONS:
“Every once in a while I read a book so good that the quality of my entire life improves.The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore is a fun, fast-paced, completely engrossing tale of a California family trying to get their eldest daughter into Harvard. Let me rave: this book is brilliant and enjoyable on every level. I LOVED IT! It’s my money-back guarantee of 2015.”– Elin Hilderbrand, New York Times bestselling author of The Rumor

“Stellar…This is a page turner as well as an insightful character study.”
–Publisher’s Weekly

“[Meg Mitchell Moore’s] unique voice and unflinching yet sympathetic perspective combine to create a story that is fresh and unexpectedly entertaining. Moore presents her characters in all their flawed glory and lovable short-sighted determination, spinning out the story of one family’s collapse and rebirth with energy and wit. Part thought-provoking commentary, part zany satire on the definition of success and the choices some are willing to make to achieve it, this is a book that is sure to earn a good deal of attention.”– Romantic Times

“The Admissions is a smart, hilarious, compelling novel about college applications, suburban scandals, and risky secrets.  I couldn’t stop reading about the Hawthorne’s—a picture perfect family who will “Keep up with the Joneses” until they burst.”– Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses

“When a high school senior is vying for Harvard, her whole family sizzles in the pressure cooker and schadenfreude (good SAT word) runs amuck. Meg Mitchell Moore takes aim at the emotional mayhem of an upscale West Coast family who wants the American dream writ large. This novel is achingly real and delightfully cheeky.”– Sally Koslow, author of The Widow Waltz and Slouching Toward Adulthood

“A wonderfully complex and relatable portrait of a family and the secrets they keep to protect each other and themselves. When the truth threatens, you’ll turn pages faster than ever.”– Charity Shumway, author of Ten Girls to Watch

“An important subject has its novel: Meg Mitchell Moore’s The Admissions is an engaging, droll and spot-on study of what happens when aspirations become obsessions, when integrity and good sense bend to the allure of preferred outcomes.  The familiar compulsions and desperations, the anxieties and delusions, the insecurities and hubris, the elaborate schemes and flat-out dumb choices of a college applicant and her parents hellbent on affirmation in the form of a golden acceptance letter are rendered here with an adroit, knowing and sympathetic hand.”– David McCullough Jr., author of the international bestseller You Are Not Special

“Meg Mitchell Moore is a tremendously talented storyteller. Brimming with humor and warmth,The Admissions introduces readers to a family so insightfully drawn and deliciously flawed that it will remain with you long after you reach the final page. This is a story that feels both uniquely Californian and entirely American–aspiration, desire, spectacular failure, and heartwarming success abound. I loved it!”– Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author of Dog Crazy and All the Summer Girls  

“With her razor sharp wit and stirringly keen insights, Meg Mitchell Moore digs deep into the zeitgeist of a modern family desperate to keep their heads above water. Add in long-hidden secrets, cutthroat college admissions, and revolving perspectives and you have an undeniably addictive read.” –Emily Liebert, author of When We Fall

MY THOUGHTS:
Thanks again to Richard and the wonderful people at Penguin Random House Audio for this audio book. I think for one thing it is the perfect time of year to read it now that students are heading back to school. Also, it is delightful to read and the characters are so well written. i am currently about two-thirds finished and have enjoyed all of it so far. In THE ADMISSIONS, I see so many people I have come upon over the years not only as a parent of a child who applied to prestigious universities, but also as a teacher who listened to parents' aspirations for their children. While watching the child, as we do especially Angela in the book, one can often tell things going on in their life that parents don't see. I like how the narrative flows smoothly with alternating chapters about different characters so you really feel you know each of them and can tell how and why the problems arise through comparisons. Especially if you have older children heading off to college soon, you will definitely be able to relate to THE ADMISSIONS and while doing so, also have a great time reading/listening to it.

3 comments:

Carol N Wong said...

I won the book from another blog, but for some reason I just could not get through it. Don't know why.

holdenj said...

I am finally on the other side of the admissions process--everyone happy with their choice, thank goodness! But, I can see where the whole ordeal, particularly dealing with those prestigious East Coast schools, could make for a fantastic piece of fiction!

holdenj said...

Oh, and to Carol's point, I had the same trouble with her other novel, The Arrivals. Never did get back to it.

CLICK HERE TO
SEE MY POLICY