This young adult tale is in the style of Hunger Games.
The earth has been contaminated by war and Five Lakes
Colony needs people at the University to develop crops that
can cope with
the soil and remain edible. Cia is so proud to graduate
from school, at the age of 16, but then THE TESTING begins.
She must travel to far Tosu
City with three others and if selected they will use their
skills wherever they are sent. Her father, who was himself
Tested, tells her of his wiped memory and nightmares,
of how he never saw any failed candidate again. Whatever
Testing involves, he doesn't want it for his daughter. Trust
no-one, he says.
Five Lakes had sent no candidate for some years, and is
potentially losing the future experts it needs to survive.
Cia and her friend Tomas find that there are hidden cameras
trained on them even on the journey. The city is wealthy
but some people look dirty and hungry even there. Other
candidates may try to weaken the opposition, so Cia doesn't
accept food from any of them. The first stage is written;
history questions on the war and restoration. Cia doesn't
like the sound of
the team assessment stage to come, and the final outdoor
survival stage, while tensions are mounting, destroying
friendships.
The style of writing is easy to get into and the story kept
me
reading. We see that science is prized, knowledge and
initiative are survival tools. The real lesson of THE
TESTING by Joelle Charbonneau is encouraging young people
to learn all they can; our race may depend on them.
Undoubtedly this well-written book will gain a lot of
attention, so if you know a young person who reads THE
TESTING, I would encourage them to discuss it and see which
attitudes are relevant to their own lives and which are not.
It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and
the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is
celebrating. All Cia can think about—hope for—is whether
she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth
program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to
become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war
civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells
her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing.
Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she
bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and
family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance—and sheer terror—
await
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