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The Testing is a New-York-Times bestselling trilogy which will have fans of The Hunger Games buzzing. Set in a chilling, war-ravaged future, Cia Vale must battle her fellow classmates to survive The Testing, and face whatever the United Commonwealth has in store for her next. In this free prequel chapter, Cia's older brother Zeen learns whether he has been accepted for The Testing. Read on for a free extract from the first book.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.

It's graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about--hope for--is whether she'll be chosen for The Testing, a United Commonwealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization.

When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings ("Cia, trust no one"), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance--and sheer terror--await.

In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies--a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas.

Though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government's murderous programs put her--and her loved ones--in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

She wants to put an end to the Testing, but she can't do it alone.

This is the chance to lead that Cia has trained for--but who will follow? Plunging through layers of danger and deception, Cia must risk the lives of those she loves--and gamble on the loyalty of her lethal classmates.

Who can Cia trust?

The stakes are higher than ever--lives of promise cut short or fulfilled; a future ruled by fear or hope--in the electrifying conclusion to Joelle Charbonneau's epic Testing trilogy. Ready or not... it's Graduation Day.

The final test is the deadliest.