Sleator. The Phantom Limb

Sleator, William & Ann Monticone    The Phantom Limb   

Amulet see Abrams, Harry      2011  207p  16.95 978-0-8109-8428-8       

ms/jr E-BN  Supernatural      

 For Isaac many things have changed since his father passed away. His mother once vibrant and happy now suffers seizures due to the stress and is in the hospital. Isaac visits his mother everyday but he has noticed that something is wrong. Instead of getting      

They were forced to leave their home and move to a smaller house in a new town. And his only companion, his grandfather has succumbed to the world of memories and sits looking at nothing. Isaac is trying to make himself invisible in his new school because he is being picked on by a pair of twin girls. One is really nasty but the other seems to be just following her sister.
 As if Isaac does not have enough problems, he finds that every time he visits his mother, she seems to be doing worse and that does not make any sense since she was almost about to be release. Through all his worries Isaac tries to relax by fixing his room and unpacking his favorites things. Isaac has a whole collection of optical Illusions and among them is a special optical cube That seem to have magical powers.
 The cube begins to communicate with Isaac warning him that his mother is in mortal danger and that he needs to get her out of the hospital as quickly as possible. Isaac at first is skeptical but then he begins to notice that his mother’s arm is beginning to show signs of deterioration. He is concerned because his mother should not have any problems with her hands or arms. His mother’s problems is her state of mind and having to deal with the loss of her beloved husband. So when he begins to see her arm swelling he begins to plot her escape from the hospital thinking her doctor may be the cause of her problems.
 A who done it mystery with a ghost thrown in for good measure and the bullies might not be so bad. Great story with a good ending.                 optical illusions - mysteries and detectives - ghost. Magna Diaz

 

Test. by William Sleator

Sleator, William. Test.
Abrams, Harry, 2008, 298p, $16.95, 978-0-8109-9356-3.
Conflict

This story takes place in the not too far future of the 21st Century. American society is dystopian and divided into the rich and the poor. The rich live in luxury, traveling by helicopter from place to place with their children in private schools. The have nots of the country have to deal with unending traffic jams, polluted air and public schools that don’t educate. The schools just prepare the students to take the XCAS test that determine their future; even the teacher’s jobs are at stake (sound familiar?). When Ann befriends Lep, a very poor immigrant from Thailand, who had been given the answers to the test in return for doing dastardly things at the project he lives in to keep his job and housing for his family, she becomes aware of the secret connections between the government and the rich real estate/oil barons/businessmen. Her life becomes dangerous as she is chased by a strange man on a motorcycle while traveling to school and home, and she is even shot at. Her friendship with Lep blossoms into a relationship as they plan to show how the government is betraying its citizens, especially the young. This fast moving plot will engage high school readers as they identify the stresses of, and emphasis on testing and its affects on society. As the mystery unravels, readers will be on the edge of their seat. TW