Published by Amazon Original Stories on June 23, 2026
“The Price of Admission” is one of six entries in the “Edge of Everything” series of Amazon Original Stories that focus on coming-of-age themes. The protagonist is Evan Dao, a gay teen of Vietnamese ancestry whose mother worked as a hotel maid in New Jersey until she was promoted to the position of housekeeping manager.
Evan hung out at the hotel where his mother worked. The hotel owner’s family lived in a penthouse suite. Evan saw but didn’t interact with the owner’s son, Dalton Claremont.
Evan’s mother dies when he is fifteen and Evan begins to live with his aunt. Moved by Evan’s circumstances, a “loyal guest” of the hotel that employed his mother improbably arranges for Evan to attend a nearby but prestigious private school with a tuition waiver. Dalton is a student at that school.
Evan needs to take a job at a café to make ends meet. Dalton is at the café with rich friends when he notices Evan and realizes he’s a fellow student. Dalton’s snooty friends disparage Evan for working, but Dalton and Evan begin to hang out. Their friendship leads to kissing. Whether it leads to anything else, Dustin Thao leaves to the reader’s imagination.
Evan is exceptionally bright and excels in school. Evan and Dalton are both admitted to Princeton, although Evan is admitted before Dalton. In his first year, Evan writes a compelling essay and wins a scholarship that allows him to join an “eating club” with Dalton and other children of wealthy families.
Dalton begins to snub Evan. Some of Dalton’s friends are vicious in their condemnation of Evan as a charity case who must have relied on affirmative action to earn admission to Princeton. Evan eventually calls out the rich snobs by pointing to the moral deficiencies of their wealthy families.
“The Price of Admission” covers well-trodden ground in its exploration of class divisions and wealth disparities in America. Upward mobility is increasingly a myth, as is the notion that Ivy League educational institutions operate as a meritocracy. Even as the children of wealthy families condemn affirmative action, they enjoy the benefit of legacy admissions. Evan’s breakout moment, his calling out of privilege, rings true.
Evan comes of age by realizing that he wasted time trying to make friends with people who will never accept him as an equal. Even if meritocracy as envisioned by members of the upper class is more a talking point than a reality, Evan has the intelligence and drive to succeed. He comes to realize that social status is less important than friendships rooted in honesty and shared values.
This is a story that older readers will have encountered before. Everything comes a bit too easily to Evan, a reflection of the story’s lack of depth. I imagine younger readers who don’t have outstanding SAT scores might have difficulty relating to him. The story is nevertheless a timely reminder that attacks on affirmative action are driven by people who resist surrendering power or sharing it with those who are not part of their elite social class. Younger readers, in particular, might benefit from the lessons taught in this modern version of a Horatio Alger story.
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS