The Testing

Charbonneau, Joelle. The Testing. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2013.

The planet has been ravaged by war; the survivors are huddled in small communities throughout the North American continent. As in other dystopian novels, there is a strict government in control and lots of rules everyone must follow. A few people are allowed to be highly educated in university, but to do so they must be chosen for, and then pass, the testing. Cia is chosen, and her father warns her to be careful. She goes through lots of trials and passes the testing, then a la Westerfeld's Uglies series, she has to remember what has been erased from her memory and why it's important.

This book is very, very similar to other dystopian novels. That doesn't make it a bad book; in fact, it's quite popular in my library because of its similarities. However, it doesn't bring anything new to the dystopian genre. I read this book, and we have it in our collection, but I am not going to rush out to read the rest of the series. This story has been told before.

Recommended for: teens

Red Flags: lots and lots of violence a la Hunger Games

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars