Customer Reviews

The Boxes (Hodder Silver Series)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before Uncle Marco goes on another of his constant trips, he leaves Annie two mysterious boxes. Like Pandora, she must keep them safe and never open them. But curiousity gets the better of her. Soon the unspeakable occurs. Grotesque, crablike creatures come out with the ability to communicate to Annie telepathically. Annie could never fathom the power they have. . .

This was a good book, partly, because I'm a fan of sci-fi/fantasy books. I couldn't put it down. There was a lot of action and cliffhangers near the end. You never knew what was going to happen next. The creatures and their customs were very creative. It's easy to read for all ages from kids to adults. The only problem was that it ended with a cliffhanger even though all of the problems have been solved by the protagonist.

"The Boxes" is a thoroughly enjoyable fantasty fare from my beloved W. Sleator. This book is a sort of reworking of Pandora's Box with some neat elements thrown in. A great book for elementary school kids, even has some sort of ethnocentrism type elements included. Entertaining!

William Sleator is one of my favorite authors. Although this is not one of his best, I couldn't put it down. Annie is an orphan who is sent to live with her Aunt Ruth--not a very pleasant person. Annie's only bright days are spent with her Uncle Marco, when he returns from his frequent mysterious trips abroad. When Marco entrusts his niece with two mysterious boxes and the warning never to a) open them or b) put them in the same room, Annie's resolve to keep them safe lasts for only one day as her curiousity gets the better of her. Once the boxes are opened, there is no going back. This is not a book to read before you go to sleep! The ending was not as satisfying as his other books; it seems like Sleator left it open for a possible sequel. Well-drawn characters let you step right into the story! When will the movie-makers (e.g. Disney) see that Sleator's books would be great for the screen!!

The boxes was an excellent book that I wold love to explain to others. I am giving this book a 4 out of 5 stars. This was a terrific science fiction book. The author wrote great detail on the creatures. Some examples from the book about the description of the creation were when Annie says, " I could see what it really looked like. I felt sick. And yet, even though I wanted to run from it, I couldn't. It legs, planted firmly on the floor. It was rubbing the front two legs totally diffferent personalities. For example, each of Annie's (main character) friends acts differently at things. William Sleator also explains how a money craving company, tries to get what they want if they cam't make a deal. For example on how thhe Crutchley Development Company can't get Annie's family to sell the house so they try to brake in the hose, and follow the family mambers. The book is about Annie, and how she opened the boxes that lead to the opening of a new life in which she has not seen. These new creatures aren't the prettiest things in the world and nicest. Thing that make Annies want to get help. I would do the same thing to. Her Uncle Marco told her not to open the boxs, but Annie thought that there was nothing bad in them, just an artifact or something. So she opened it. I think you whould to. As much as I think this book was good, the ending left you hanging. an example would be how did Annie save her house from being bought by the big company, and what happened to the creatures? The ending was pretty much stated badly. You can't have a perfect story and have a bad ending. It's just can't work. Besides that, it had a wonderful beginning and middle that entrenches you. I would really recommend this book to someone who wants to expand his or her mind or ideas. This book is also realistic. Annie goes to school like a normal day person, has freinds like everbody eles's, and goes through things that you and I would go through at school. In fact her main freinds are so cought up in love that they don't even help Annie out of the problem that she has. The growninups in this book were really out there. You have the company's manerger throwing fits, an uncle joking, making a teen- ager not believing her, and so on. This book also shows how a small community try's to push awway a big company. With a book that expands your mind, and fun to read, I think you should read this. Enjoy!

This is the kind of book you need on a bus or train or during a winter day when you can't go out. It is stright forward, with stupid characters (as in slow to figure things out), semi-interesting alien race (who have class issues) and a creative idea that could have been handled better or made into an interesting series of books.
I got this book because, when I was younger, I found Interstellar Pig interesting and thought the author might be able to write other books at the same level of skill. No go - while The Boxes feels like it had some promise I never really felt anybody was in danger nor was anything really a surprise.

"The Boxes" was quite simply an excellent book. The plot is well thought out and the book flows well. It has a fairly good ending which is something that I find rare for Sleator's books. It is worth the time.

I have read all of William Sleator`s books and most of them are fantastic except intersteller pig and parasite pig but this was very close to being great but not as great as others such The Boy Who Couldn`t Die which was amazing but disappointing that its not at the kindle store but you should definitely order that online.

The Boxes By William Sleator

Uncle Marco is a middle-aged man. He has black hair and blue eyes, he's tall and skinny and disappears a lot. He goes on mysterious adventures to exotic places in the world. I like the way William Sleator imagines him, which I think is incredible.

At the beginning I thought that uncle Marco was going to be a boring character. Once I got more into the book I got more interested in him. It was like he was jumping out of the book to become a real person.

Uncle Marco is always in his own slowdown. That is when he watches the world change. It is the same thing that the little aliens do to get more work done for their ruler, who is a clock-like thing that takes little alien runts as a sacrifice. Uncle Marco goes into a slowdown to watch the earth change.

I cannot relate to this character. He is too old and mysterious. He gets this cool slowdown machine and I all I have is a Play Station 2, which is not as cool as that.

The Boxes is a great book for readers ages 9-12. I really loved it. It was so interesting that I couldn't stop reading it. William Sleator should make a sequel to The Boxes, that's how good it was. I really liked it!

Anne has been given two strange boxes from her mysterious Uncle Marco, who strongly cautions her not to open them. Of course, she does so anyway.

In one box, she finds a strange crab like creature with the ability to tap into her thoughts. In the other, she discovers an unusual clockwork device (which she learns later can slow down time). The creatures reproduce (they ''need only one individual to provide offspring'') and form a magnificent palace in Anne's root cellar. They sacrifice themselves for the clock in order for it to create a "slowdown". But the greedy "Cruthley Development" wants the machine to slow down time and give them longer hours to work on houses.

In short, THE BOXES is an entertaining read, but won't end up being a classic.

William Sleator's "The Boxes" is an entertaining, fast-paced book, but it leaves many questions unanswered, such as: Why does Uncle Marco go on all these trips? Why was Henry not affected by the slowdown? Mr. Sleator, please make a sequel to "The Boxes"!!!