Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom,

Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse.

By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance:

to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?