High fashion and lesson planning have little in common, but both worlds collide in Anisha Lakhani’s hilarious and enlightening first and semi-autobiographical novel Schooled. Think Sex in the City meets Dangerous Minds, only the dangerous minds in this fictional tale are not gang members from a rough inner-city neighborhood; instead these “dangerous” minds are Manhattan’s wealthy and elite, parents who have more money than sense and live in an exclusive world where the right price can buy anything—homework and term papers included. 

Anna Taggert emerges as the heroine, a young, creative, and idealistic first-year teacher in an elite Manhattan private school. Her students’ parents and her administrators balk at her innovative and interesting lessons for her seventh-grade English classroom, complaining about too much work and too much fun in the classroom. While her efforts would earn her Teacher of the Year in most public school districts, Anna is viewed as a threat to slacker-teachers and the school’s dependence on hefty family donations. Her dismay leads her to the dark side of Manhattan’s privileged, private-school world, causing her to compromise both her standards and her teaching aspirations. Her journey comes full circle when she quits her lucrative after-hours tutoring career which perpetuates a system without ethics or learning.  

An entertaining and light-hearted read for all, teachers especially will relate to Anna’s struggle to motivate and engage her students in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies. Shopaholics and fashionistas will also relish Anna’s shopping sprees and socialite lifestyle, enjoying the scenic tour of Manhattan’s hottest shopping and dining locations.   As a fellow teacher and one who enjoys a good dose of retail therapy, Schooled is highly recommended for a fun and entertaining late-summer read.