Orientation: The School for Gifted Potentials by Allis Wade

A hidden gift, a mysterious school, and a mother's secret

A century in the future, Government Observers quietly track down gifted children hiding among the general population. Everett has spent his whole life being coached by his mother to appear ordinary, until an Observer tricks him into revealing his true abilities and he's summoned to test at the mysterious School for Gifted Potentials. He sabotages the entrance tests on purpose, hoping to be sent home, only to discover his mother has left him there, at the very school she'd always taught him to fear. Written by educator Allis Wade, who draws on real theories of giftedness, the story follows Everett's orientation week as he begins to understand himself, his classmates, and a secret from his mother's past he never expected to uncover.