A Ward of the State

Allison Maxwell has spent the last two years in Hamburg with her father, growing up in a world that values intellect and independence. But when tensions in Europe escalate, she’s forced to leave her life behind and return to Manhattan—only to find that home is no longer the place she once knew.

Enrolled at Vanguard Preparatory Academy, an elite school reserved for the children of the wealthy and powerful, Allison quickly realizes the curriculum is designed not to educate but to control. Boys are trained to lead; girls are conditioned to submit. The future laid out for her is suffocating, with a rigid structure of expectation where compliance is mandatory and questioning the system is dangerous.

As she struggles against the academy’s restrictive rules, Allison befriends Michelle, a sharp-witted student who challenges her to look beyond the veneer of perfection that Vanguard projects. Through their growing friendship, Allison begins to uncover the hidden mechanisms of power that keep women like them in place—not just at school, but in the very structure of society.

When unsettling family secrets come to light, revealing the stark reality of her mother’s past and the deep roots of control within her family, Allison is forced to confront an impossible truth: the system isn’t broken—it’s designed to function exactly as intended. And her place within it has already been decided for her.

But Allison isn’t ready to accept her fate. As she pushes back against the rules dictating her future, she finds herself at odds with not just the school, but her own powerful family. With the weight of generations pressing down on her, she must make an impossible choice: comply and preserve her status, or risk everything to carve out a future of her own.

Set in 2042, A Ward of the State is a compelling story of resistance, resilience, and the quiet rebellion of a girl who refuses to be controlled.