THE CHANDLER LEGACIES

Every year teens enter prestigious Chandler Academy, a Connecticut boarding school known for setting young people up to do great things.

Among the greatest honors is selection into the Circle, a cloistered creative writing workshop run by the mysterious professor Douglas. Students from all walks of life are hungry for a spot. Those chosen in the fall of 1999 couldn’t be more varied: biracial Spence, a White and Indian American queen bee struggling with impossibly high standards; Cuban and Brazilian American Freddy, thoughtful and longing to be more than a jock; Ramin, a sensitive gay Iranian immigrant; Brunson, a White closeted lesbian and overachiever; and Beth, a White girl who is an outcast both for her anxiety and townie status. As the members of the Circle bond, becoming like family, they share their own secrets and discover much larger and more harmful ones having to do with student well-being that Chandler has kept for years. While doing vital work in discussing issues of sexual assault, hazing, and rampant homophobia, the story struggles in other ways. Characters often feel interchangeable due to the third-person–present point of view that renders them more a collection of explained thoughts and traits than organic people (the novel is bookended by a first-person prologue and epilogue set in 2008). Characters’ backgrounds are in some cases touched upon too briefly, but the sweet friendships and romances formed by the group are touching.

Exposes important issues with straightforward clarity.