A review by mollyfischfriedman
Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden

3.0

For a satire about a school struggling to meet ever-moving achievement targets pegged to test scores, I enjoyed reading this. Some of the characterization felt very exaggerated - from the new teacher who was only there for a two-year stint to the football coach whose whole life revolved around football to the Black and brown students feeling pretty stereotypical - but also it was just real enough to make it work for the most part. As soon as I finished the book, I felt a little let-down by how the book just ended without much closure, but after sitting on it, I decided that actually felt more realistic (plus, the epilogue was smartly done).

One more gripe: Lena was written to come across like a strong female character, but I'm not sure that she passes the Bechdel test.