Author:Maggie Ann Martin
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genres: Contemporary
Released: August 29th 2017
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Danielle effed up. Big time.
Danielle's plans for the future were pretty easy to figure out... until she failed senior English and her single college application was denied. Suddenly she's in hot water with very few options, because honestly who applies to a safety school when their mom is a semi-famous "college psychic"?!
Determined to get her life back on track, Danielle enrolls in her hometown community college with a plan: pass her English class and get back into Ohio State and her mother's good graces. Romance isn't on her radar... until she reconnects with her childhood crush and golden-boy-next-door, Luke.
Between family drama, first love and finding her own way, Danielle can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. Thankfully she has her friendship with the snarky and frustratingly attractive Porter, her coworker at the campus bookstore, to push her to experience new things and help keep her afloat.
One thing's for sure: This time, failure's not an option.
EXCERPT
I closed my bedroom door behind me and sank against the door. The lie of my rejection was bubbling inside me, and I felt like the truth would explode out of me. It could quite possibly kill my mom. Sure, she’d probably have an emergency plan in place, but it seemed pretty hopeless. My room was already stacked to the brim with Ohio State–embellished dorm room merchandise, including a rather comfortable toilet seat cover. I flopped onto my bed, my hand reaching to that space in between the bedframe and the mattress where my shame hid. I opened it up one more time, thinking that the words from the dean of admissions would magically change by positive thinking.
Dear Ms. Danielle Cavanaugh,
It is with great regret that I inform you that we will not be accepting your application to Ohio State University this fall. After a thorough review of your final transcript by our admissions board, your final grades did not match the stipulated grades for our competitive New Media and Communication Technology program.
If you wish to retake the classes in which the competency levels were not reached, you may apply again for admission in the spring. More than 10 percent of our students join classes in the spring semester and are still able to complete their degree within the four-year time span.
Thank you for your interest in Ohio State University, and we hope to see your amended application in the spring.
Dr. Caroline Bates
Dean of Admissions
Ohio State University
Over the past month, I’d come up with elaborate schemes to get rid of the letter. I could burn it, feed it to the neighbor’s dog, turn it into confetti in the paper shredder—but nothing seemed to resonate. One of my favorite units in elementary school was this “Crafts Around the World” program, where we worked on a project that was inspired by a different country each week. The best week was Japan, when our class made paper crane strings that wound around the ceiling of our classroom for the rest of the year. The colors always stayed in my mind, and even now I sometimes make paper cranes when I feel stressed out or in need of focus. I tore off the bottom of the letter, leaving the paper in the perfect square shape to start creating the crane. Memory wasn’t normally my strong suit, but the folding technique of the crane came back to me instantly.
When I finished, it seemed much smaller than I thought it would be. I couldn’t read the words that haunted me anymore. They jumbled together into nonsense that looked sort of beautiful. I held it close to my face and could make out one string of letters on the wing. My name. Danielle.
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Paper cranes are for healing--i love how this character uses them. This will hit home here as I just sent my daughter to college.
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