A CRACK IN THE LINE

Alternate realities are the theme of this gloomily introspective novel. Exactly two years after his mother was killed in a railway accident, English teenager Alaric finds a way into a version of his life in which his mother has not only survived the train crash, but gone on to win a tidy sum in the lottery. What's more, in this not-quite-parallel world, Alaric himself exists as a girl named Naia ("We're variants of a single individual," as Naia puts it). Once the two 16-year-olds meet, they cannot resist spending the next few days exploring each other's worlds. Alaric mostly just envies Naia, while she does what she can to help her unhappy counterpart (she even tidies a few rooms in his version of their home). Back in his own reality, Alaric and his aunt set to work readying the house for the arrival of Alaric's future stepmother. Fascinating as it is, unfortunately the notion of multiple universes is not enough of a plot to sustain an entire novel. Readers who have themselves experienced losses (and therefore may have a heightened interest in pondering worlds where things have turned out differently) are unlikely to find much comfort in Naia's summing up of what seems to be the book's world view: "Such a terrible loss would surely dull your mind, make you very inward looking and sorry for yourself. A dulled mind was less likely to find inspiration or to be intrigued by much beyond its own very limited horizons." Ages 13-up. (Aug.)