Cheating Lessons

Could honesty be the worst policy?Sixteen-year-old Bernadette Terrell is a champion debater who adores books contests and winning. When shes named captain of her schools Classics Bowl team to compete on TV against their private school rival Bernadette is thrilled. This is more than a chance to earn the state title win money for college and bring glory to her run-down Michigan town. Its even more than a chance to make some nonfictional friends for a change. This contest is what Bernadette has trained for her whole life. Winning is her destiny.Or is it? On the eve of the championship match she discovers that someone she trusts has cheated. And Bernadette is the only one who knows. An honors student whos always been sure of the right thing to do now she wonders just what that might be since winning has taken on a new meaning. And yet--its still a competition. And shes still a girl who hates to lose. In this coming-of-age story that will speak to teens parents and teachers Nan Willard Cappo uses suspense and humor to craft a mystery about school cheating friendship peer pressure and courage in which an appealingly smart heroine must decide for herself what battles are truly worth winning. Named an ALA Popular Paperback for Young Adults a Clean Reads for Girls by YALSA a Junior Library Guild Selection and given a Horn Book starred review Cheating Lessons blends classic literature academic ambition and a riveting ethical dilemma into a novel that never cheats the reader.