From Publishers Weekly
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 determination to get into medical school has cast her as a brain and, thus, untouchable. She has a crush on Pete, the football captainand weird things are happening on a daily basis, ever since Omar, the creepy boy next door, moved in. Laura makes Omar confess his secrets: he's training to become the guardian of the Second Dimension, while he's exploring the Fifth. Laura invites Pete on a journey to the Fifth Dimensionbut her game becomes a nightmare when she and Pete are captured, and the whole existence of the world depends on Omar's ability to rescue them. After the seriousness of Singularity, Sleator has returned to some of the humor of Interstellar Pig. A welcome offering from a versatile writer.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up How can the mathematical uncertainties and complexities of the fourth dimension translate into a successful novel? Sleator begins by creating fully realized, sympathetic, three -dimensional characters whom readers are eager to follow into an alternative "terra" so "incognita" as to boggle the mind and inspire an almost Lovecraftian horror. Omar, a "weird" new kid, and teenage Laura are the travelers into the fourth dimension here, and those adults who may question their motivation have forgotten the overwhelming urgency of the adolescent need for love and acceptance. The alternative world that they find is a spectacularly successful speculative achievement, thanks in part to its remarkable verisimilitude and in part to Sleator's success in creating wonderfully alien creatures who are, nevertheless, emotionally and intellectually comprehensible. The mathematics of their milieu has also been made intellectually comprehensible (no small achievement) by Sleator's skillful introduction of theoretical considerations into his plot and his consistent application of them. In fact his two worldsours and its fourth-dimensional neighbormay be seen as representing two sides of an equation, just as his two sets of charactersLaura and Omar, Gigigi and Ramoomare oddly identical. The sum of all these disparate parts is a novel that is viscerally exciting, mentally stimulating, and deeply satisfying. Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
