Rated by Melissa Grey

Everyone is rated. It's how you know your place in society. Do good and your rating goes up; do bad, it goes down. Ratings determine where you can shop and live and what hospital you can use. Ratings are everything.

So it is quite a shock to everyone when "THE RATINGS ARE NOT REAL" is spray painted across the front doors of Maplethorpe Academy (founded by the man who also created the ratings) on the first day of school. Most right it off as a one time act of vandalism by a disgruntled student. For six students it becomes a puzzle after they each receive a cryptic message that seems related to the graffiti.

Circumstances cause them to pair up (even though none of them really know each other). Chase (star baseball pitcher on the verge of losing his scholarship due to a low rating) and Bex (driven, ambitious student with one of the highest ratings in the school). Tamsin (would be witch and tarot card reader and all around rebel who is near an expulsion level rating) and Hana (hopeful future ice skating star who is starving herself to be better). Javi (outgoing nationally known video champion who is trying to provide for his younger siblings) and Noah (old school photographer who keeps to himself).

I expected this to be more dystopian in nature. Even though the ratings drive the narrative, it is really a study about each of the six students. They are presented in a way that avoids stereotypes, and that made for a much more interesting read.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.