The Taker

Reader reviewed by Sara

"Carly Biels' future is right on track: she's a great student (mostly As and Bs), her boyfriend, Brad, is captain of the lacrosse team; and she's a shoo-in for Princeton (Her dad's an alum - love that legacy status). she's never been great ast test taking (so nervewracking), but she's always figured she do well enough on the SAT to get by. But when Carly gets her results, she hast to face it; she tanked. Really tanked. Not even genius tutor Ronald Gross (rhymes with "floss") coud help her get her scores as high as she needs. Then she gets a mysterious note signed "The Taker". The Taker will take the SAT for her guaranteeing a score withing 150 points of perfect - for a price.
Does Carly: A) Agree to use the Taker? B)regret it? C)get in way over her head? D)All of the above."

The plot of this book was pretty good, but I wasn't particulary impressed with any of the characters. The main character, Carly, is really stuck up and kind of annoying throughout the book. J.M. Steele (with is actually two writers with their names combined) also wrote The Late Bloomer.

Reader reviewed by Alexandra

Carly has had the perfect high school experience: good grades, dating the lacrosse captain, and a shoo-in for Princeton (grades + legacy = acceptance). She's never been stellar at standardized tests, but she figured she'd do well enough. She figured wrong. She completely tanks the SATs. She has one chance to take them again, and her entire future is riding on it. She's desperate. How can she possibly pull them up enough in time? On the other hand, not going to Princeton is not an option. Then she receives a mysterious not from "The Taker," who offers to take the test for her and guarantees her the scores she needs. Recklessly, she says yes. She is instructed to continue studying so not to arouse suspicion, so she works with her neighbor, Ronald Gross (rhymes with Floss) for the next several weeks. The whole time, she is nearly sick with worry about being caught. Sure, not going to Princeton would be bad. But no school will take a cheater. The will-she-or-won't-she question will keep the reader on the edge of her seat for the entire novel. Carly and her friends are all realistic characters, and her dilemma is something any high school junior or senior will relate to. This is one SAT book that is actually fun -- although a bit nerve-wracking -- to read.