Test (review)

Seventeen-year-old Ann cannot help but be obsessed about the XCAS: this standardized test determines the future career options for almost all teenagers. If she fails, she will face a bleak life as a drudge worker living in horribly substandard housing; if she passes, she will likely never have the lifestyle of the few elite, but she will at least be comfortable. Her focus on the upcoming exam is diverted, however, when a dangerous man begins following her as a threat to her politically active father. This threat leads to Ann's becoming involved in a web of conspiracy and intrigue as she befriends the employee of this man (a shy but handsome immigrant who attends her classes) and, with his help, gathers evidence that the test itself is flawed, that the creators are corrupt, and that the entire educational system needs a dramatic overhaul. This dystopic society, crisply segregated into those who must dwell in the pollution and those who can literally fly above it, is a haunting backdrop for Ann's desperation to enact change. Unfortunately, although teens will undoubtedly empathize with the resentment the characters feel about the tests, Sleator's diatribe against standardized testing is so overwhelming that the characters are underdeveloped, the dialogue is inauthentic (often, the protagonist is used as a prop to spew dislike for the No Child Left Behind act), and there is little dramatic tension as the forces of good are guaranteed success. Nevertheless, high-schoolers organizing a revolt against an all-powerful educational system that is unbalanced, dehumanizing, and unfeeling will still resonate with readers, who may see glimpses of themselves in the downtrodden adolescents.