Elite Class

The grueling summer vacation special tests are finally at an end. As the clock ticks down on the last glorious days of summer, the students of the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School frantically try to squeeze in all the things they've left undone and unsaid. Get a glimpse into the secret lives of supporting characters and watch romantic confessions and poolside drama unfold in this volume of short stories that bridges crucial gaps between the end of first semester--and the start of the second.

There's upheaval in the air as another special exam approaches and Nagumo officially replaces Horikita Manabu as student council president. Meanwhile, Ryuuen is out for blood, and he's set his sights on Horikita Suzune as the next possible candidate for Class D's mysterious mastermind!

Still reeling from the shock of their first expulsion, the first-years head into the last special exam of the year--a seven-event gauntlet that sees Class A facing off against Class C, and Class B against Class D. With each class's elected commander facing expulsion if they lose, Ayanokouji volunteers for the role to quell his classmates' suspicion about the events of the last exam. And with Sakayanagi captaining Class A, making this the right place and right time for their long-anticipated personal showdown--he might just need that Protection Point before too long.

It's school trip time! With a promise of no special exams, students assume it'll be a normal school outing. However, they find themselves split into groups that include students from all four classes, not just their own.

Society has never been more egalitarian—in theory. Prejudice is taboo, and diversity is strongly valued. At the same time, social and economic inequality have exploded. In We Have Never Been Woke, Musa al-Gharbi argues that these trends are closely related, each tied to the rise of a new elite—the symbolic capitalists.

The third semester kicks off in high gear with a special boot camp deep in the mountains. Forcibly separated into groups along grade and gender lines, the first, second and third years alike must work together to survive the rugged terrain. Even worse? The leader of the group that comes in last will be expelled. Can Class D make it back to campus intact, or is this where they finally say goodbye to one of their own?

It's time for the school's first-ever Cultural Festival! Some refuse to participate, but the rest of Ayanokouji's class secretly works to build the maid cafe of their dreams. Ryuuen realizes what they're up to and declares war, forcing a head-to-head battle to see which cafe is more profitable. But as this goes on...what business does Ayanokouji have with Kanzaki and President Nagumo?

Sakayanagi puts her plan to crush Ichinose into motion, spreading rumors of her alleged criminal history through the school like wildfire. With Class B at a loss, and Ichinose herself uncharacteristically reluctant to fight back, can Ayanokouji step in to save her reputation? Meanwhile, Kushida makes contact with student council president Nagumo in what might prove to be a very dangerous alliance, indeed.

It's spring, and for the first time in the school's history, no one has been expelled after the third semester exams. As a result, the Advanced Nurturing High School sets a cruel test--each class must choose one of their own members to be expelled. Chaos consumes the first-years as Hirata tries and fails to keep the class from turning on each other, Ichinose strikes a costly bargain with Nagumo, and Ryuuen's classmates seem ready to throw him to the wolves. Can Class C make it out of this unscathed--or will they be undone by traitors within?

The special exam on an uninhabited island has begun! For two weeks, students will do their best to visit checkpoints and complete challenges to gain points with their groups. Well, except for Ayanokouji, who has opted to tackle this exam on his own... or has he? Nanase, a first-year student from Class D, breaks off from her own group and asks to tag along with him, but there doesn't seem to be anything in it for her. Just what is this under-classman's goal?

School may be on vacation, but the scheming never stops! Christmas draws near, and Karuizawa and Satou compete for Ayanokouji's affections while new student council president Nagumo makes his first sinister moves.

It is an axiom of American life that advantage should be earned through ability and effort. Even as the country divides itself at every turn, the meritocratic ideal - that social and economic rewards should follow achievement rather than breeding - reigns supreme. Both Democrats and Republicans insistently repeat meritocratic notions. Meritocracy cuts to the heart of who we are. It sustains the American dream.

Malcolm Gladwell has long relished the opportunity to skewer the upper echelons of higher education, from the institution of U.S. News & World Report’s Best College rankings to the LSATs to the luxe Bowdoin College cafeteria. I Hate the Ivy League: Riffs and Rants on Elite Education, upends the traditional thinking around how education should work and tries to get to the bottom of why we often reward the wrong people.

In Second Class, working-class Americans of all races, political orientations, and occupations share their stories—cleaning ladies, health care aides, cops, truck drivers, fast food workers, electricians, and more. In their own words, these working-class Americans explain the struggles and triumphs of their increasingly precarious lives—as well as what policies they think would improve them.

Getting in is only half the battle. The Privileged Poor reveals how - and why - disadvantaged students struggle at elite colleges and explains what schools can do differently if these students are to thrive. The Ivy League looks different than it used to. College presidents and deans of admission have opened their doors - and their coffers - to support a more diverse student body. But is it enough just to admit these students? In The Privileged Poor, Anthony Jack reveals that the struggles of less privileged students continue long after they've arrived on campus.

Former New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the rich and powerful fight for equality and justice any way they can--except ways that threaten the social order and their position atop it.

Christophe Guilluy, a French geographer, makes the case that France has become an "American society" - one that is both increasingly multicultural and increasingly unequal. The divide between the global economy's winners and losers in today's France has replaced the old left-right split, leaving many on "the periphery".

Over the past decade, Americans watched in bafflement and rage as one institution after another - from Wall Street to Congress, the Catholic Church to corporate America, even Major League Baseball - imploded under the weight of corruption and incompetence. In the wake of the Fail Decade, Americans have historically low levels of trust in their institutions; the social contract between ordinary citizens and elites lies in tatters. How did we get here? Christopher Hayes offers a radically novel answer.

A elite do atraso se tornou um clássico contemporâneo da sociologia brasileira, um livro fundamental de Jessé Souza. Por meio de uma linguagem fluente, irônica e ousada, Jessé apresenta uma nova visão sobre as causas da desigualdade que marca nosso país e reescreve a história da nossa sociedade. No âmago da interpretação de Jessé não está a corrupção política. Para ele, a questão a partir da qual se deve explicar a história passada e atual do Brasil - e de suas classes, portanto - não é outra senão a escravidão.

Naming names, along with grades and test scores, Golden lays bare a corrupt system in which middle-class and working-class whites and Asian Ameri­cans are routinely passed over in favor of wealthy white students with lesser credentials - children of alumni, big donors, and celebrities. The Price of Admission is a must-listen - for parents and students with a personal stake in college admissions but also for those disturbed by the growing divide between ordinary and privileged Americans.