The MIT Technology REVIEW might not seem an obvious source of inspiration for a dystopian middle grade novel. But after reading an article in a 2018 issue of the journal, Anna Monders, an alumna of the school’s planetary science master’s program, found the spark for her debut Tested (Aladdin, Mar.). The article described research that would make genetic testing from (or before) infancy possible, offering parents a genetic “report card” for their baby, including prospective height, intelligence, and risk of disease. As a writer and scientist, Monders had questions: “What if we lived in a world where this testing was common? What if a person’s options in life were strongly proscribed by the results of this genetic testing?”

Tested is set in such a world, where everyone’s future is determined by their Genetic Report Card. Since the Great Dying that left parts of the world contaminated by toxins, the Elites (those with desirable traits) live in the clean, resource-rich places, while the Defectives and Expendables are relegated to the most polluted areas. Mikayla, a girl who’s always believed herself to be at the top of society,
finds out her score was based on someone else’s DNA, potentially making her a Defective. For Monders, the plot was a way to explore identity, genetic determinism, and environmental justice.

Along with Tested, Monders sold her debut nonfiction picture book, So You Want to Be a Fossil?, to Candlewick’s MIT Press imprint in the same week. “Behind that wild week of getting two books deals in a row was 14 years of pigheaded perseverance with no guarantee of success,” she says.

In 2010, she took her first steps in writing fiction with a middle grade fantasy novel, then tried children’s poetry and informational picture books, along the way working as an outreach librarian, giving book talks to thousands of middle grade students to drum up interest in reading, and writing a blog aimed at teachers and librarians. “I got to see how kids were reacting to story and premise, see what was working, and think about how to incorporate that into my own writing,” she says. “I suspect that my drive to write, and particularly for children, is rooted in the gift that books gave me at that age.”

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