about the book
Getting into college always gives a high school senior the jitters. For Cia Vale, getting into the university means she can keep breathing!
Not long ago, the country was scorched to a brittle cracked landscape, and those that survived the Seven Stages War almost starved to death. The United Commonwealth picked 150 men, women, and children to start up the Five Lakes Colony, where the Great Lakes once sat. Though the colony still struggles, the land it sits on now blossoms with new trees, flowers, and edible plants. Cia’s father is responsible for the greenery.
At sixteen, Cia is the youngest of her graduating class, eight boys and six girls. If not chosen for the annual Testing, she will become a farmer or a mechanic. If she is chosen and passes the Testing, she will go on to the University to study and become a leader, helping their shattered planet heal.
Though not the smartest in her class, surprisingly Cia is picked, one of four from her colony. It has been ten years since someone from Five Lakes went to the Testing. Her father, who says little about his own Testing and time at the University, warns her to trust absolutely no one.
Cia quickly finds out that the intensive Testing involves a series of brutal physical games. At just five foot two and younger than most, she is faced with almost insurmountable odds. One wrong move can cause a world of hurt! Fatal booby traps, killer mutant life-forms, and brazen double-crosses face candidate after candidate. Each is forced to fight for their life.
Out of a hundred young people, only twenty will survive. Surely Cia can trust Tomas, her childhood friend!
about the author
Joelle Charbonneau never planned on being a writer. She loved to read and make up outrageous stories, but she enjoyed acting and singing more. She earned degrees in vocal performance from Millikin and DePaul Universities and after graduating she performed in operas and musicals throughout the Chicago area.
While sitting in the wings during a run of a show, the very first line of a possible book popped into her head. When the stubborn line refused to fade away, she decided to write it down with a few other sentences. Suddenly a whole story grew, and months later, she had a completed novel. Okay, it was a very bad novel, but she realized that she enjoyed the challenge. She went on to write a total of five very bad romance manuscripts.
Undeterred, Joelle signed up for lots of seminars and critique groups and worked to improve her writing skills. While sitting in a restaurant one night after a conference, someone asked her whether her parents were performers. When she replied “No, but my mother is a former World Champion Artistic Roller Skater,” she was greeted by deafening silence. Finally an agent turned to her and said, “You should write a roller skating book.”
Joelle almost fell off her chair! Who writes roller skating romance novels? Ten days later, she finished her first chapter of Skating Around the Law, a book with a dead body headfirst in a rink toilet and an ex-circus camel. And her career as an author was born!
She continues to perform occasionally and also gives acting classes and private voice lessons. Seeing the stress her students endured while taking college entrance exams inspired her to write The Testing series.
Joelle lives in Illinois with her husband and active pre-school son. She gets most of her writing done at nap time. Joelle is very tall, which is great for getting things on the top shelf, but, she says, it makes finding a tall enough leading man very difficult!
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Miss Literati
Author interview: YALSA
Author interview : Dear Author
Also by Joelle Charbonneau:
Graduation Day (Testing, Book 3). Houghton Mifflin. 2014.
A Chorus Line-Up (Glee Club Mystery, Book 3). Berkeley Publishing Group. 2014.
Independent Study (Testing, Book 2). Houghton Mifflin. 2014.
Skating Under the Wire : A Mystery (Rebecca Robbins, Book 4). St Martin’s Minotaur. 2013.
End Me a Tenor (Glee Club Mystery, Book 2). Berkeley Publishing Group. 2013.
Skating on the Edge : A Mystery (Rebecca Robbins, Book 3). St Martin’s Minotaur. 2012.
Murder for Choir (Glee Club Mystery, Book 1). Berkeley Publishing Group. 2012.
Skating Over the Line : A Mystery (Rebecca Robbins, Book 2). St Martin’s Minotaur. 2011.
Skating Around the Law : A Mystery (Rebecca Robbins, Book 1). St Martin’s Minotaur. 2010.
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