TEST by William Sleator

1. If you're looking for a pure fiction story, this one isn't neccessarily the right choice for you!  It is a good book that hits close to home if you are a kid or a parent.  It gets pretty deep into a problem we have now with the educational system and it gets deep in politics.  Our main characters consist of "Lep", who is from Thailand and is considered the lowest of the low where social ranking go.  He doesn't speak English very well and couldn't pass the EXCAS test but is actually very smart.  Ann who truly finds herself throughout the book finds herself having to make some hard and risky decisions involving good over evil.  The book is set in the future, the air is so polluted you have to wear a mask to go outside, the traffic is so bad that it literally would take an hour to go 3 blocks. In this future all that matters is money and social ranking.  And the test that decides everyones life is the EXCAS test.  Even if you have straight A's if you fail the all important EXCAS test, you won't graduate, you won't get a good job & you'll pretty much be scrounging for food and to make a decent living for the rest of your life.  Everything that EXCAS says it is, it's really not.  The teachers and principals are so stressed about that test because it determines their very salary and job status.  Sound familiar yet? If a school doesn't make good scores then their funding is cut off.  If they do well, then there are pay increases.  But this EXCAS test becomes SO important that teachers don't teach anymore.  They're so worried and stressed about scores that all they do in class is practice paragraphs and questions pertaining to the test.  Ann and Lep are total strangers until Anns dad brings them together by accident and they end up starting a protest against the test.  Of course there's more to the story than just that.  Lep is constantly in danger of being sent back to the juvenile detention center and Ann gets herself into a situation that might get her killed.  Everything turns out well in the end though because Ann and Lep, along with others, start a protest against the EXCAS and lets the world know the criminality that is really behind the test.  Like I said, if you're a kid or a parent, you are familiar with the TAKS, which before it was called that it was called the TASP.  These tests in school have gotten so out of hand that William Sleator might have written a prophecy of what is to come!  Yes, there does need to be tests in order to track the progress of what kids are learning and how well they are learning.  But it should not get to the point of where kids cannot graduate unless they pass it, even if they are passing their classes.  Every kid has his or her own learning styles and some are just horrible test takers.  Its already gotten to the point that some teachers are losing their jobs because kids are not passing.  Look at HISD!! Its pretty scary at how close to home this book hit.  It's not a very lighthearted story, FYI, but it has plenty of adventure and mystery and it is certainly intriguing.  It is also a quick read so I would definitely say its a good read!  Happy Reading!