We Regret To Inform You by Ariel Kaplan

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
On Sale Date: 352
Pages: August 21st 2018
Age Range: Young Adult

Mischa Abramavicius has applied to all of her dream Ivy League colleges. With her perfect A-grades, she must get into one, right? But then she gets one rejection letter after the other, even from her last option safety school, which leaves her totally in shock, and more, in question. It seems like all her hard work of the past year and the dedication of her mom to send her to a good prep school all was for nothing. Most of all, she feels quilty and doesn't tell her mom, who is convinced she is accepted to her last option safety school.
As she is trying to come to terms with her uncertain school future, a lot of questions arise. How could she not be accepted? Something obviously stinks, and she starts a secret investigation to get to the bottom of this.With the help of her best friend and sometimes crush, Nate, and a group of eccentric techies known as "The Ophelia Syndicate'', they get into the school administration of their high school Blanchard Academy and find out that Mischa's transcript and grades where hacked! But by whom, and why? It seems the school has a lot of dark secret involving the parents who donate the most money to the school.

Altough it had some slow moments where the story didn't go forward very much, this is a funny and entertaining read. The story starts as a drama, but quickly turn into some serious investigation and hacking with some really entertaing plot twists and turns. They discover a grade changing ring set up by the school board that rewards the students whose parents have donated a lot of money to the school and that penalizes students who do very well but are poor. This discovery schocks and shakes the normal quiet community of the private high school of Blanchard Academy. I really liked this sleuthing part and how it wrapped up in the end. Besides that the character of Mischa was very likeable and I liked how the author also showed her family life with a single mom who works hard to give her daughter the best future.  I recommend reading this entertaining and original book!