Review by Jacob Chon, grade 9
The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Summary: In a world after chemical bombing and total warfare has decimated the globe, Malencia Vale, daughter of an agricultural scientist, is chosen for the Testing, a government program that is made to find the next leaders of the world. Her family is ecstatic, but her father tells her to not trust anyone. Malencia immediately makes new friends and enemies at the Testing Center, but something is off. Those who fail tests are never seen again. Then one of their tests involves dropping them in the middle of a wasteland. Their only goal: survive and make it to the finish line. However, there are limited spots and in the days that follow, Malencia witnesses her friends kill to win. Will she make it out alive or will she become one those who disappear?
The Testing seems like an ordinary book at first riding on the coattails of The Hunger Games, but it is unique. The humanity of the characters and the hard decisions of killing their friends they make puts it above most copycats. This is a good read for those who liked Divergent and The Hunger Games. I would give it a solid 4/5 stars.
Find this book in our catalog: The Testing
Call Number: YA FIC Charbonneau, J
344 pages