House of Stairs

This chilling, suspenseful indictment of mind control is a classic of science fiction and will haunt readers long after the last page is turned. One by one, five sixteen-year-old orphans are brought to a strange building. It is not a prison, not a hospital; it has no walls, no ceiling, no floor. Nothing but endless flights of stairs leading nowhere--except back to a strange red machine. The five must learn to love the machine and let it rule their lives. But will they let it kill their souls? "An intensely suspenseful page-turner." --School Library Journal "A riveting suspense novel with an anti-behaviorist message that works . . . because it emerges only slowly from the chilling events." --Kirkus Reviews

Literature & Fiction

Sleator, William

Short Stories & Anthologies

Puffin Books

The Green Futures of Tycho

When he finds an ancient, egg-shaped object with which he travels back and forth in time, eleven-year-old Tycho grapples with several terrible futures he sees for himself and his family

Teen & Young Adult

Strange Attractors

Max finds himself in possession of a time travel device which is eagerly sought by two desperate men, the scientist who invented it and the scientist's alter ego from a different timeline

After her little brother builds a traditional Thai spirit house in their backyard as a gift for the family's exchange student, things begin to go dangerously wrong for Julie. Reprint.

The Spirit House

Puffin

The author of such reliably offbeat sf thrillers as Strange Attractors (1990) radically changes pace for ten hilarious, semi- autobiographical stories. With affection and a splendid sense of comic timing, Sleator drags forth incidents from his family closet's darkest recesses--the time young Tycho was hypnotized and then made to drink from the toilet; an indignant skit that laid bare the failings of certain parents, to their vast amusement; rough-and-tumble car games; and deliciously horrifying pranks played on unsuspecting passersby. Vivid characterizations (sister Vicky ``had always enjoyed making dolls fight with each other; when the dolls wore out, she ripped off their arms and legs. Now she is a nurse'') always balance foibles with saving graces; embarrassment is eased by laughter, while painful circumstances always come right in the end. Sleator shows how, in a loosely run household presided over by indulgent working parents, he and his three siblings developed confident, independent spirits. Though he admits to making up a few things, his dedication is telling – ``To my family: Please forgive me!''
– Kirkus Reviews

Oddballs

Children's Books

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Others See Us

When an accidental dunking in toxic waste gives sixteen-year-old Jared the ability to read minds, he discovers horrifying secrets about family members during a summer reunion. Reprint.

When three unusually attractive young adults rent the summer cottage next door, Barney's boring vacation at the beach seemingly takes a turn for the better. However, after the neighbors unwittingly reveal their extraterrestrial identities, the board game they have taught him becomes a real-life battle, and Barney must outsmart the aliens to save Earth from destruction. The fantastical tale contains some of Sleator's most inventive characters.

Interstellar Pig

Singularity

Identical twins Barry and Harry Krasner are house-sitting at their great-uncle's Midwest farm. It's peaceful at first, but soon they realize there's something about the farmhouse that makes locals stay far away. The twins are sure that the locked shed out back is their reason why – but what they find there is more shocking than anything they could have imagined.

Dangerous Wishes

To end the bad luck that fifteen-year-old Dom and his parents have been experiencing since their arrival in Thailand, Dom and his new friend Lek search for a jade carving that must be returned to its shrine to appease an angry Thai spirit

Refusing to believe in aliens until the night he and his friend Tim are abducted, Leo awakens to find that Tim has disappeared, and no one will believe his story. Reprint.

The Night the Heads Came (Puffin Novel)

Science Fiction

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Books by Sleator, William