It specifically examines the belief that being successful depends on attaining the perfect GPA and being accepted by the "right" college.

Throughout the work, the author follows eight students who have a lifestyle where overachieving takes priority.

She occasionally interrupts to address issues that affect one of the teens and explains its negative effect on an international scale.

She discusses how social pressure from parents and friends, drugs, drinking, and suicide play a part in high school teenager's lives.

Robbins puts the No Child Left Behind Act in a negative light by placing an emphasis on standardized tests and claims the college admissions process in the United States to be corrupt and inefficient.[where?]