The Boy Who Reversed Himself [Library Binding]

William Sleator (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2008

When Laura finds her homework in her locker with its writing reversed, she?s baffled, until she learns an unbelievable secret: her weird neighbor, Omar, has the ability to travel to the fourth dimension. Laura forces him to take her there?and then, a novice in ?four-space,? she goes there on her own. There?s only one problem?she doesn?t know how to get back. ?A cerebral science-fiction thriller, cunningly constructed to keep the reader involved until the last pages.? ?The Horn Book

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

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.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 167 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439504660
• ISBN-13: 978-1439504666
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,730,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book; what's with the cover?, March 11, 2005

By 

saturnine (Kansas City USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy Who Reversed Himself (Paperback)

When I was in elementary school, I remember the first time I laid my eyes on a William Sleator book. It was 'The Boy Who Reversed Himself'. The cover was a great image of a boy's face being distorted by a prism or mirrors. The cover was mysterious, intriguing and it looked like an adult's book, not a children's book. It drew me in from the 1st glance. From that point on, I devoured every William Sleator book I could get my hands on, Singularity, Interstellar Pig, Tycho, House of Stairs, The Duplicate, and I loved them all. They were my introduction to the glory of Science Fiction.

So, my question is, Why the need for these ridiculous new covers? They look like something written for a kindergartener. Do these covers actually appeal to kids nowadays? I remember seeing books with covers similar to these current ones when I was a kid & thinking they were for a child much younger than I. In turn, I never had any desire to read them. The same thing is happening to all the good books, I noticed it happened to Ender's Game as well. What is going on with the publishers? Are they trying to dumb down our children? I remember thinking I was sophisticated & sort of grownup for reading books that didn't have kiddie covers. Why do the covers have to change? They wouldn't look antiquated nowadays, they would actually look more modern than this crap.

Rant aside, read the book it's great. Singularity is probably my favorite Sleator book, though this one is close as it was my intro to him.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Sleator's best, December 11, 2006

By 

Blake Petit "Novelist, columnist & reviewer" (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Boy Who Reversed Himself (Paperback)

This was one of the first books I read when I discovered William Sleator back in high school, and it remains a favorite of mine. A young girl starts having bizarre encounters with the new boy next door. He seems to know more about her than he should, and begins showing up places he couldn't be, like inside her closed locker. Things get even more bizarre when Omar's facial features inexplicably flip over to a mirror image of himself.

With a little persuasion, Laura cracks the truth -- Omar has the ability to step into the fourth dimension, and now that she knows about it Laura won't rest until she makes the journey with him. The resultant story is a nice little fable about power and responsibility. Sleator crafts some very well-rounded characters in this novel, and neatly manages the rather difficult trick of guiding the readers through visualizing an extra dimension that the human mind can't comprehend. Ultimately, like Sleator's best work, the high concept is a stepping point to examine what sort of people he's writing about and what sort of world could develop if that concept were carried through to its logical conclusion. This is one of my favorite Sleator books, and an excellent book to bring to a young reader who wants to dabble in science fiction.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A captivating and unique book., April 21, 2002

By 

Mia (Bangkok, Thailand.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy Who Reversed Himself (Paperback)

The Boy who Reversed Himself
William Slaetor, the author of this book, came to visit my school, thats when I deiced to read this captivating book.
This book is a very special boy named Omar, who is new to the town; he has a hard time at his new school where everyone despises him, because he is different, new, and withdrawn. Omars next-door neighbor, who is a girl named Laura, and she doesnt Omar very much, but her mom forced her to hang out with him during the summer, because he was alone and new. Laura has noticed that something is weird about Omar because sometimes his face is reversed, she did notice that his freckle has changed side on his face! Soon, Laura finds out about his secret, although she finds it out by playing nice to him, and using his vulnerability to get what she wants. What she finds out is scary, intriguing, and exciting. Omar tells her about a 4-d space world, and how he can go there. Laura tells him she will be his very good friend and always be there, but she is lying; all she wants is to go into 4-d space. Of course Omar is now contented because he thinks he has a friend who actually wants to be with him. Consequently, Omar takes her into 4-d space, and she experiences very weird events! After a couple of trips to 4-d space with Omar, Laura finds out how to get there on her own, and brings a guy that she likes. His name is Pete, and Laura wants to impress him. The consequence is that she is breaking a promise she had with Omar, that she would never tell anyone about the 4-d space world. When Laura and Pete go to 4-d space, something terrible happens. You will find out what if you read the book!
This book is very surprising, and you never know whats going to happen next. In the beginning of the book I felt so repentant for Omar, because people very mean to him and the way Laura used him was malicious. In the middle, I got kind of tired of all the 4-d space talk, but as Pete and Laura went out there alone, it got more exciting. You wont know what to expect to happen next, it was a satisfactory part of the book. What I liked more was how everything came together at the end and everything that you read in the beginning of the book that didnt make sense had made sense at the end. I enjoyed the end the most, and the book forces you to think about everything in the universe. I liked reading this book slightly, even though it wasnt really my type of book.