This May Go On Your Permanent Record by Kelly Swails

Sally Clark is curious about how technology works, which would be fine except her experiments tend to be illegal. She’s also a terrible liar, which is why she ends up in court for stealing groceries with nothing but a hacked smart phone. While the judge isn’t impressed that her alcoholic mother had traded the grocery money for booze, he is intrigued by her hacking skills. He offers her a deal to keep her out of Juvenile Detention. The only one caveat: if she fails, she’s going straight to Juvie. Sally accepts, and before the end of the day she’s enrolled in the School for Extraordinary Youth. She’s barely unpacked her bags when she discovers that SEY is a prep school for world domination.

Sally feels like the biggest outsider ever because most of the other students are legacies with SEY alumni in their families. Someone has sponsored Sally’s presence—she’s basically a charity case—but no one will tell her who or why. She manages to make a real friend for the first time, and it’s a good thing, because life at SEY isn’t all puppies and butterflies. Courses like Military Maneuvers, Fun with Chemical Warfare, and Monologues for the Masses means she’s playing an eternal game of catch-up. To top it off, Justine Carmichael appoints herself President of the freshman class and declares war on sponsored students like Sally. Sally must navigate the treacherous waters of the School for Extraordinary Youth to keep Justine from getting her way and to stay out of Juvie. In the process, she forms unexpected alliances, learns the identity of her mysterious benefactor, and discovers where she truly belongs.