The Testing

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 postwar 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. AGES: 12 up AUTHOR: Joelle Charbonneau began telling stories as an opera singer, but these days she finds her voice through writing. She lives near Chicago, Illinois, with her husband and son.