Seventeen-year-old Silver has a problem. And she’ll do whatever it takes to get what she wants.Despite being the perfect student, she’s obsessed with getting an A in Advanced English, but the final exam stands in her way. She devises a plan to steal the answer key, and recruits four friends to help her. The only problem is it involves breaking into her teacher’s house.In one night, Silver will … teacher’s house.
In one night, Silver will risk everything she’s worked for, relationships will be tested and danger will lurk around every corner. Will Silver pull it off? Or will she lose everything?
The Test is a young adult suspense thriller for people who love fast-paced action, engaging characters and a little romance. Buy The Test now.
The Test was previously published as Dragon.
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The Test by Amanda Linehan falls in the YA genre and, as the title indicates, is about an essential item in the life of students. In this case, high qualifying marks will count toward university admission. This novel is a reissue by Amanda Linehan and was originally published under the title Dragon. There is a mystery as part of the plot, so given the absence of sexual language and violent content, I could also call this a cozy mystery.
Silver is her nickname, and that is what she wants to be called. All her friends call her Silver. Even her father uses the nickname, one he coined. Only her mother uses Silver’s name from a birth certificate, Silvia, and Silver cringes when she hears it. Silver is an overachiever and wants everyone to know that she achieves everything due to her abilities. She relies on no one — her near-perfect grade point average support her claimed capabilities. But for the latest examination in Advanced English, she had received a B, and that was unacceptable to Silver.
There was no way to repair the damage. Mr. Bailey didn’t change grades, and he did not assign replacement projects to make up for poor performance. The only thing Silver could do was get an A on the final examination. But Silver was not sure she could achieve that goal. Anything less than an A would exclude her from admission to her favorite university. Something must be done to assure the grade of “A.” It appeared that cheating was the only guarantee of a good grade.
Cheating involved stealing copies of the test’s question and answer sheet. Silver resolved a way to do it on her own, but she had gotten caught. She learned valuable information from her class colleague captor. The question and answer sheet was kept in Mr. Baily’s home. Dave, the classmate who had caught her searching Mr. Baily’s office, had a key to Mr. Baily’s home. Could she get him to help her in committing a crime?
If Mike agreed to help, it meant that Silver was not doing things based on her efforts alone. She had to admit her need for help. Eventually, this would spread and involve others. Readers will find answers to lots of questions by reading this YA mystery. Did she go through with her plans? Was she successful? If not, what were the consequences?
Amanda Linehan tells us this is a reissue of the book with a different cover. I expect typos have been worked out. On page 14, I was surprised to find that a few students wanted to get “a peak at the answers.” It was the only typo I found. I am not super critical in searching line by line for mistakes. When my reading persona trips and falls over errors such as this one, I mention it.
A satisfactory read in the YA genre, this novel should retain the interest of adults. The story is a four-star Amazon read in its style of Young Adult. I will read more by this author. I read this genre looking for work suitable for English as A Second Language Learners. The vocabulary level of this novel will be a pleasant experience for English language students. The book is available on Amazon for USD 0.99. It is not currently available on Kindle Unlimited.