1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Gardner isn't like other boarding schools. They take in those who've been rejected everywhere else, they offer a survival skills class that has students killing and gutting animals, and then there's the Tournament.
A competition available only to seven elite seniors, the Tournament is revered by the entire student body. They'd do almost anything—including completing a series of grueling physical challenges—to win the champion's cup.
And this year, three seniors make the Tournament more cutthroat than ever.
Max, the ruthless scholarship student who can't afford any distractions, not even her ex best friend Nora's stupid confession of love at the end of last year that ruined everything between them.
Nora, who always put herself on the sidelines so Max could have everything she wanted, but might just be ready for center stage now that Max has brutally excised herself from Nora's life.
And Teddy, the transfer who's on her last chance and will chase any high that can pull her back from the gaping, dark void inside herself that's always threatening to pull her in.
If one of them wants to win, then they can't let anything—or anybody—get in their way.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 17, 2025 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781665932325
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781665932325
- File size: 6107 KB
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Accessibility
The publisher provides the following statement about the accessibility of the EPUB file supplied to OverDrive. Experiences may vary across reading systems. After borrowing the book, you may download the EPUB files to read in another reading system.
Summary
A simple complexity publication with images and logos, converted to meet EPUB Accessibility specifications of WCAG-AA level. This book contains various accessibility features such as alternative text for images and logos, table of contents, page-list, landmark, reading order, structural navigation, and semantic structure. Blank pages from print have been removed in this ebook, with related page number spans set on the first following in-spine page. Certain front and back matter pages have been adjusted in the reading order sequence from print, with related page references reordered in the page-list order.
Ways Of Reading
No information about appearance modifiability is available.
Not all of the content will be readable as read aloud speech or dynamic braille.
Has alternative text descriptions for images.
Conformance
The publication contains a conformance statement that it meets the EPUB Accessibility and WCAG 2 Level AA standard.
This publication claims to meet EPUB Accessibility 1.1 WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
Navigation
Table of contents to all chapters of the text via links.
Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation.
Additional Information
Page breaks included
High contrast between text and background
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 1, 2025
Gardner-Bahnsen School for Girls "prides itself on being different"--and that goes for both the students they admit and what they're taught. Unlike other elite boarding schools, Gardner's curriculum incorporates survival skills such as archery, hunting, and butchering game. These lessons culminate in the annual Tierney Cup tournament, in which seven seniors compete for the coveted trophy through a series of wilderness tests. Wren "Max" Maxwell, a Black scholarship student with a troubled family background, dreams of winning the cup and proving herself in her new social circle. The competition is complicated by the presence of Nora McQueen, Max's former best friend, a biracial (Black and white) girl whose confession of romantic feelings fractured their bond. Also competing is Theodora "Teddy" Swanson, a newly arrived Black girl with a checkered past. Tensions rise when Teddy begins dating Nora, intentionally provoking Max. As the contest unfolds, a hurtful secret comes to light with dangerous consequences. The story is told from the three girls' revolving points of view. Teddy reveals that she feels a "black hole" within her that's only satisfied by feeding off the chaos she creates; despite this explanation, her obsession with Max seems forced. The narrative invites readers to question the unhealthy dynamics among the girls at the school, who frequently belittle one another. The buildup to the denouement is long, but readers will be treated to a shocking ending. There's racial diversity in the supporting cast. A slow buildup pays off with an explosive ending.(Thriller. 14-18)COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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June 1, 2025
Grades 9-12 Mean Girls gets a queer, BIPOC, dark academia update in this engrossing thriller about a school where girls are taught to survive and thrive, by whatever means necessary. Senior year at the Gardner-Bahnsen School for Girls should have three things: friends, Ivy-League applications, and the annual Tierney Cup. When ex-best friends Max and Nora, along with newcomer Teddy, compete in the yearly tournament, tensions rise, expectations shatter, and boundaries evaporate. All three narrators read as Black and lesbian, and privilege seeps out of the woodwork at Gardner due to the mostly upper-crust student body; the students' language, though, happily disregards any traditional notion of politeness. The plot gallops along, sometimes too quickly, zigging when the reader knows it will zag. The romantic entanglements are necessarily complicated; the characters are teenagers, after all. The somewhat one-dimensional secondary characters aside, the main three come across beautifully through deep introspective looks at their lives, emotions, and possible futures. With an ending that makes the reader question any belief in basic goodness, The Tournament will leave a lasting impression.COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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