Honor Code

Gr 9 Up—When Sam's family drops her off at Edwards Academy, a pricey and exclusive boarding school that could be her ticket to the Ivies, she never expects to be hazed and humiliated with all the other first years in their house by Hayden, the Head Girl, and her posse of prefects. Equally surprising is Hayden's gift: she matches Sam up for the fall mixer with fourth-year Scully Chapman, captain of the polo team. The misery of being new while trying to fit in and be accepted is tempered by Sam's wonderful roommate Grace, who chums around with her and to whom she can complain about the enormous academic workload. Being seen on Scully's arm elates Sam until Grace's hurt feelings and frustrated crush on him create a rift between the girls. Bad to worse: a tutoring session behind closed doors with Scully leaves Sam with ripped clothing and an urge for justice against a sexual predator protected by the elite and venerable institution's honor code. Made up of anonymous Tumblr posts, first-person narration from Sam, and third-person narration from Harper, a rookie reporter from The New York Inspector, this engrossing story is broken into pre- and postattack sections.