This Is Just a Test
CCBC Review:
A late Cold War, made-for-television movie called The Day After, which imagines what happens in a small U.S. town after a nuclear bomb is dropped, leaves 7th grader David Horowitzw upset and unsettled the fall of 1983. Until the movie, his greatest worry was his upcoming bar mitzvah. Now it’s the end of the world. Then again, he’s sometimes just as worried about things exploding in his own home, where his Chinese maternal grandmother, Wai Po, who lives with his family, and his Jewish paternal grandmother, who moved from New Jersey to around the corner after Wai Po moved in, are often at odds in quietly cutting ways. David’s also trying to navigate a new friendship with Scott, a boy who teamed up with David and David’s longtime best friend, Hector, for a trivia contest. They won. Now Scott, who also saw The Day After, has invited David to help him dig a fall-out shelter, and has made it patently clear Hector, who is far from being a cool kid, is not included. Authentic characters, genuine relationships (for better and worse), tension, and humor all combine to make this story about family and friendship and David’s struggle for peace in his own life pleasurable, poignant, and immensely satisfying. ©2017 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-12
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Anxiety
Asian Americans
Chinese and Chinese Americans
Discrimination and Prejudice
Feelings/Emotions
Friendship
Grandmothers
Jewish People
Multiracial Characters/Families
War
Diversity subject:
Asian
Jewish
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Publish Year: 2017
Pages: 256
ISBN: 9781338037722
CCBC Location: Fiction, Rosenberg