Reminiscent of The History Boys and also of The Virgin Suicides, this is a beautifully written, incisive and darkly humorous novel that allows us to see down the school halls and into the classrooms, peep behind the locked doors of the staffroom, and observe teachers who are at the same time tender and cruel, as well as students who are nowhere near as self-aware as they think they are.

With the intertwining relationships between teachers and students at its core, Hummingbirds is the story of a year in the life of the Carmine-Casey School for Girls, a wealthy prep school on Manhattan's Upper East Side. As the story unfolds, two worlds intersect — the adult world becoming irresistibly seductive to the girls, and the dewy haze of teenage girlhood becoming a trap into which the flailing teachers fall. The web holding these characters together is an intricate one, full of loyalties, allure, competition and camaraderie.