Tested - Hardcover

Monders, Anna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1665972793 ISBN 13: 9781665972796

Verlag: Aladdin, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

Set in a world where everyone’s future is determined by their Genetic Report Card, a girl who’s always believed she was at the top of society finds out her score was based off someone else’s DNA in this “compelling, thought-provoking” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade dystopian novel.

For as long as Mikayla can remember, her future has been laid out for her. As an Elite in a world divided by genetic Elites, Defectives, and Expendables, she’ll live up to her stellar Genetic Report Card score of ninety-four by excelling academically, gaining acceptance into the Elite Scholars program, and eventually working for GenIn, the company that saved humanity after the catastrophic Great Dying.

All seems to be going as planned until a surprise assignment during Mikayla’s class changes everything. Soon, she’s reconnecting with a friend she thought she’d lost forever and—for the first time in her life—questioning the society she has put her trust in.

But if Mikayla isn’t the model citizen she always believed herself to be, then who is she?

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Anna Monders holds an MFA in writing for children from Simmons University and an MS in earth and planetary sciences from MIT. According to her genetic report, she has Irish ancestry, is a preferred target for mosquitoes, and is most likely a night owl. The genetic report could not, however, predict that her life adventures would include serving in the Peace Corps in Gabon, conducting biogeochemistry fieldwork in the Arctic, teaching in a one-room off-the-grid schoolhouse, and presenting high-energy book talks to kids across southern Oregon.

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Chapter 1 1
“HEY, 94. WAIT UP,” Daniel calls.

I’m in a hurry to get to the lab, but I pause outside the building so he can catch up. It’s the sort of thing that looks good in our personality portfolio: Mikayla is courteous and community-minded; she interacts well with others. Too bad I can’t add my own details: Mikayla doesn’t complain when her classmate never calls her by her name.

Daniel bounds up beside me, his curly black hair bouncing on his forehead. “Spit day! Are you ready, 94?” He rubs his hands together like he can hardly wait.

“I’m ready,” I say. Ready for this final lab assessment to be over.

Daniel lands a gob of spit in his palms and shoves them my way with a grin. “Highest quality Elite 94 DNA!”

Typical Daniel move. I turn away and scan my wristband to unlock the door. “We’re extracting DNA from anonymous saliva samples, you know that,” I say.

“Too bad. We’ve got the good stuff, you and me both.”

A blast of cool air hits us in the face when we step inside. Daniel trots beside me down the tiled hallway toward our lab classroom. It’s early, but researchers are already hunched over their work in the labs we pass.

“So, tonight,” he says. “You coming out with us to Center Strand?”

He’s been asking me every week since our summer program began, and I’ve always said no. Mom had me coming to her lab on Friday evenings to start practicing the next week’s work. But there’s no new lab work now, and I hardly ever get the chance to hang out with my classmates outside the lab.

“You should do it,” Daniel says, sensing my possible interest. “It’s student night at Café DNA. Non-contam chocolate pastries ten percent off after eight p.m.!”

Maybe Mom would let me go. To strengthen social ties and all that. She knows that’s important too.

“I’ll ask my mom.”

“Really? You’ll go with me?” Daniel sounds a little too excited.

“I’ll ask her if I can go out with the whole group.”

Daniel wrinkles his nose for a second but moves on. “We’ve got to celebrate! Done with our last assessment of Elite Scholars Prep in…” He slows down and pulls his CommTab out of his bag to check the time. “Eight hours and fifty-seven minutes!”

“We still have to get through review week. And then the—”

“And you can tell your mom we’ll be studying tonight. We’ll get a table of 94s together, okay?”

The sudden serious tone of his voice—so unusual for him—makes me glance over as we turn the corner into our hallway. Daniel clowns around, but he must feel the weight of it too. The trial that has lurked, worse than any dark nightmare, slowly approaching all these years. It was always so far off. Too far off. And now, too close. We’re fourteen years old now, and it will be here next week.

The Year 14 Fulfilled Genetic Potential exam.

We’ve passed our health checks and personality evaluations. But the academic portion of the FGP exam is still ahead. Two marathon days of testing next Thursday and Friday.

I finger my purple Elite wristband as we approach our classroom. I have to prove I’m living up to my high genetic potential. I have to prove I’m worth investing in.

I shake off the fear that’s creeping in. I promised Mom that I would put blinders on today. Just focus on acing the final lab assessment—the DNA extraction, where we have to take someone’s spit and separate out the DNA from all the other stuff.

Daniel opens our lab classroom door, and I follow him inside. We’re more than half an hour early, but a bunch of kids are already here, probably doing math problems or reviewing the instructions for today’s lab work. I scan the room for Soraya, our teacher. I can’t wait to tell her about last night’s triumph. She isn’t hard to spot, helping Nick at his desk. She’s wearing a bright floral top and a swirly purple skirt. Her long dark hair drapes down her back. She’s a happy splash of color in the otherwise dull room—white walls, white and black tile floor, black lab tables, gray metal supply cabinets, white and gray lab equipment.

Soraya looks up and I wave to her. Soraya is my favorite—my favorite babysitter when I was little, back when we lived in the same neighborhood, and now my favorite teacher ever. She’s made this summer prep course almost fun.

I head to my usual desk by the windows, in the row next to Nick. Daniel slips into the desk behind me. I get out my review assignment on two-variable equations and speed through a few.

When Soraya is free, I flag her over. She smells like honeysuckle.

“I did three DNA extractions in a row last night in Mom’s lab,” I tell her. “All good data!”

She gives me a high five. In a whisper, I add, “I even had Mom’s lab assistant pretend to be Dr. Ava and glare at me the whole time. And I still didn’t mess up!”

Soraya chokes back a chuckle. “That’s my girl.”

She moves off to check on other kids, but her smile stays with me and blossoms into a warm feeling. I’m going to get through this. I’m going to nail our final lab assessment. I will have successfully completed the Genetics Institute’s Elite Scholars Preparatory Program. I will pass my FGP 14 exam next week. I will be accepted into GenIn’s Elite Scholars program for secondary school. I will eventually gain ranked GenIn status like my mom and become a second Dr. Grebe. I will work hard and contribute to society. I will have done everything that was expected of me.

Mom will be so proud.

In between solving equations, I watch Soraya move through the room. Only about half of the class will get into Elite Scholars, if we hit the same mark as previous years. Even though that’s a way better chance than for kids who don’t go through the prep program, I’ve tried not to think about the coming school year too much. But now that I’m this close, I’m giddy with the idea of having Soraya as one of my secondary school teachers. Next time she comes down my row, I catch her eye, and she stops at my desk.

“If I make Elite Scholars, are you going to be excited to have me as your student again in the fall?” I ask, even though I’m sure she will be. It will be her first year teaching in Elite Scholars.

Soraya looks at me with… what? Pity? My stomach drops. She doesn’t think I’ll get in?

“I’d love having you as a student!” she says. But her voice is off.

“Soraya, what’s wrong?” Was her encouragement all these weeks—years, really—fake?

Just then, there’s an all too familiar clack of heels in the hallway. Soraya and I both glance at the door. Dr. Ava doesn’t usually appear until ten a.m. for the weekly lab assessment, and it’s hardly past eight. Class hasn’t even officially started yet.

Dr. Ava steps inside our classroom. She’s a little younger than Mom, but she’s all thin, hard lines. Blond hair pulled back in a tight bun. Flat mouth. Steely eyes.

Behind her, two men in dark gray suits stand in the doorway. High-ranked GenIn staff? I don’t recognize them. Sweat beads at the back of my neck. Soraya didn’t tell us we’d have additional observers for this last assessment. I...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Aladdin
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1665972793
• ISBN 13: 9781665972796
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; Utrecht; 3584 AA; Niederlande