Personal Statement

Getting into college has never been harder. Can't rely on a perfect SAT score or a 5 on your AP Mandarin exam. Field hockey and basketball? Please. The real sport is Volunteering. Change the world-and tell Harvard all about it. In Jason Odell Williams' hilarious first novel, Personal Statement, it's open season on admissions-and a Category-3 hurricane is headed for Connecticut. Self-proclaimed tiger-daughter Emily Kim drags her best friend, apathetic test-taking genius Rani Caldwell, to the coastal town of Cawdor, where Emily's sure her humanitarian efforts will make her Harvard application stand out from the pack. Problem is: so does everyone else. When Emily and Rani arrive, hundreds of other teenagers-including Robert Clinton III, gay, black and meant for the Sorbonne-are already in Cawdor with the same idea. Observing the battle royale is Alexis J. Gould, aide to the Governor and a veteran of the college admissions rat race. To the kids in Cawdor, it's not a natural disaster. It's an opportunity. Let the games begin