William Sleator, . . Penguin/Firebird, $6.99 (212pp) ISBN 978-0-14-240086-9
PW
noted that Interstellar Pig
, the first title, about a boy's addiction to the eponymous game played by the odd trio next door, "will raise readers' hackles and incite nervous laughs." Parasite
continues the game even after the summer ends. Ages 12-up. (Feb.)
This prequel to Sleator's open-ended thriller, The Boxes, answers almost all the questions readers of the first book might have had about the pathetic, Continue reading »
In this prequel to The Boxes, 12-year-old Marco and his psychic, hyper-sensitive sister find a strange tunnel in their basement leading them to another world Continue reading »
Sleator (House of Stairs
) journeys to the voodoo-zombie lore of the Caribbean for his latest thriller, about a boy whose fear of death prompts him to give up Continue reading »
Sleator (The Boy Who Couldn't Die
) turns one of modern science's most puzzling fields into fodder for suspense, with mixed results, in this novel Continue reading »
Sleator's (The Boy Who Couldn't Die
) lean, fast-paced horror tale moves from fascinating to far-fetched, all under a palpable blanket of darkness. Nick, Continue reading »
The ill-starred pioneer family of Mary Jane Auch's Journey to Nowhere and Frozen Summer returns in The Road to Home. This installment, set in 1817, finds 13-year-old Remembrance Nye leading her Continue reading »
Barney, 16, is drawn into a board game with strangers who have moved into the house next door; only when he is fully controlled by the three does he find out that the game is real, and losing means Continue reading »
Once again, Sleator treats us to the best that YA science fiction can offer: averageand sometimes not-so-averageteenagers facing the physical and mathematical absurdities of our universe. Laura's Continue reading »
Sleator brings the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of Thailand alive in lush detail, but the story itself, a sequel to The Spirit House, doesn't come alive until halfway through. Readers who tough Continue reading »
Leo is driving his friend Tim to the bus station so the latter can sneak off to New York to show his drawings to a publisher, and neither teen is prepared for what happens next. They get abducted by Continue reading »
Like Pandora, 15-year-old orphan Annie has been given a box she is forbidden to open, opens it nonetheless and unleashes something horrible. But Sleator adds a twist: Annie has a second box. Moreover Continue reading »
Fans of Sleator's creature features (The Boxes; The Beasties) will find this tale of redemption less grotesque, but satisfying nonetheless. Eleven-year-old Peter finds out he is adopted, strives to Continue reading »
Recent high school graduate Max is looking forward to his visit to Mercury Labs, an honor for top science students, when his mother tells him he's already been there--yesterday. Then Eve, the Continue reading »
In this SF adventure, teenager Max becomes involved with time travel and parallel universes; PW said, ``Sleator's latest high-tech thriller is compelling and thought-provoking, and offers a clever Continue reading »
After falling off his bicycle into a toxic waste dump, Jared develops the ability to read other people's thoughts. He is catapulted into psychic combat with his amoral grandmother and sociopathically Continue reading »
With all the moral complexity of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine, Sleator's (The Spirit House) latest novel revolves around a community of small, pasty creatures that live underground and harvest the Continue reading »
Aliens abducted Tim and Leo. Now Tim is missing, Leo has amnesia and everyone is endangered by extraterrestrials. ""For those whose idea of mind candy includes plenty of slimy creepy-crawlies, it may Continue reading »
As in his recent Rewind, Sleator's mildly comic time-travel adventure is the story of a boy who prevents his own death by healing family relationships. Computer geek Chris is in perpetual conflict Continue reading »
Strange creatures whose existence is threatened by loggers require human donors to survive. PW said that this novel ""may well leave readers with some soul-searching questions."" Ages 8-12. (Oct.) Continue reading »
As this thriller begins, Isaac, newly
arrived in town, is totally miserable: “A mental darkness surrounded Isaac. He was fourteen, and he had no friends.” His father has recently died; his pianist Continue reading »
Jun, whom end papers reveal has recently moved from
Hong Kong to an American suburb, stands at a bus stop one Monday, the translations of three words scrawled on one palm. Jun Continue reading »
“On breathtaking mountains, where coffee beans grow,/
I carry my friends to the green hills below.” In an exuberant debut, Hernández foregrounds La Chiva, “a colorful rustic Continue reading »
“Long before a slave ship sailed,/ we shined like bright stars—/ brilliant and beautiful.” In an insightful picture book, Oso (Buster the Bully) offers an empowering portrait of Continue reading »
Nonbinary teen Ash is struggling with feeling disconnected from their life. Their parents don’t understand their identity, their classmates are more concerned about following Continue reading »