The Taker

 

Grade 6 Up–Carly Biels should have it made. She has a terrific boyfriend, good friends, and she's popular. Okay, her parents have really high expectations and her dad is a Princeton alum, but she's got decent grades, so that should help her get into his alma mater, right? Wrong. When the SAT scores are released, hers just aren't good enough. Panicked, she becomes involved in a shady deal to cheat next time by having the mysterious Taker fix her score. Before she knows it, she's committed, her boyfriend is pushing her too far too fast, and her friends are well on their way to their own successes. Feeling desperate and alone, the teen turns to super-smart nerd Ronald Gross for tutoring. To make matters worse, her best friend, the editor of the school newspaper, takes investigative reporting seriously when rumors of a cheating ring start floating around the school. As Carly's life turns upside down, she is haunted by the choices she has made under pressure and finds out that people may not be what they seem. The protagonist's obsession is a bit much, but she is a sympathetic character, and Steele creates enough tension and interest in the various subplots to make this an enjoyable read.–Roxanne Myers Spencer, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green
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Carly has always counted on going to Princeton, her family's alma mater for generations, but her SAT scores fall far short of Ivy League standards. Then a mysterious text message from "The Taker" promises nearly perfect scores when she tries the test again, and as her sense of failure intensifies, she accepts the Taker's offer. She also signs up for tutoring sessions with her brilliant, geeky neighbor, and his creative lessons and gentle affection give Carly a new perspective not only on the test and her decision to cheat but also on her friends, family, and boyfriend. The Taker's identity and an SAT cheating ring form an awkwardly constructed mystery that isn't nearly as strong as Carly's believable, first-person voice, which mixes sometimes barbed social observations with genuine insights and growth. Like Mariah Frederick's Crunch Time (2006), this debut novel, written by anonymous authors under a joint pen name, offers a pointed view of the pressures of college admittance, standardized tests, and the discovery of love that feels respectful and right. Gillian Engberg
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