Bound To Stay Bound

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 Testing (The Testing)
 Author: Charbonneau, Joelle

 Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2021)

 Classification: Fiction
 Physical Description: 339 p.,  21 cm.

 BTSB No: 207540 ISBN: 9780547959108
 Ages: 12-16 Grades: 7-11

 Subjects:
 Examinations -- Fiction
 Missing persons -- Fiction
 Commencements -- Fiction
 School stories
 Colleges and universities -- Fiction

Price: $16.79

Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Malencia (Cia) Vale is chosen to participate in The Testing to attend the University; however, Cia is fearful when she figures out her friends who do not pass The Testing are disappearing.

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Accelerated Reader Information:
   Interest Level: MG+
   Reading Level: 5.60
   Points: 15.0   Quiz: 158911
Reading Counts Information:
   Interest Level: 9-12
   Reading Level: 5.40
   Points: 22.0   Quiz: 63246

Reviews:
   School Library Journal (00/06/13)
   Booklist (05/15/13)
 The Hornbook (00/07/13)

Full Text Reviews:

School Library Journal - 06/01/2013 Gr 7 Up—Like almost every 16-year-old in the United Commonwealth, Cia Vale hopes to be called for the Testing, her ticket out of rural Five Lakes Colony and into the University in Tosu City. Cia's father was selected, but only vaguely remembers the experience in nightmares. Her four older brothers were passed over. Just when she has resigned herself to life as a mechanic or farmer, she gets word that she is one of four students selected from Five Lakes and is expected to board the skimmer to Tosu City the next day, most likely never to return. The bulk of the book is taken up with the Testing-devious exercises to identify those with superior leadership skills as society has suffered through Seven Stages of War and desperately needs to repair the damage to living creatures and the environment. The mental and physical trials will weed out 80 percent of the candidates, leaving several maimed or dead. Cia teams up with Tomas for both practical and romantic reasons. She is independent and smart for the most part, and Tomas seems almost too good to be true. There are double-crosses, mutant life-forms, and booby traps to navigate before 20 hearty souls receive word that they have passed. Cia's story is expected to span a trilogy. The influence of The Hunger Games is obvious, and The Testing will satisfy readers who want similar dystopian adventures.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/15/2013 Mystery writer Charbonneau throws her hat into the YA dystopian ring with this series opener that bears more than a slight resemblance to The Hunger Games. Sixteen-year-old newly graduated Cia Vale is selected to take part in The Testing, a process that offers the only chance at a college education and training to become part of the next generation of leaders. Cia has spent years preparing for this—it’s her chance to help the United Commonwealth recover from the devastating Seven Stages War. Cia’s father, who took part in The Testing himself, warns her to trust no one. Charbonneau is treading familiar ground as she sets her young heroine against a government machine that is focused, brutal, and duplicitous. Though the story moves quickly, readers might be confused as to the reasons behind the government’s methods. Why the brutality against students? There is no indication that the citizens are oppressed, and they’re unaware of how gruesome The Testing is. The ending will ensure interest in the next installment, but hopefully book two will deliver some answers. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

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