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THE DOOR IN THE LAKE

Name: THE DOOR IN THE LAKE
Author: Nancy Butts
ISBN: 1-886910-27-8

by Nancy Butts ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 1998

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In a story that young X-Files fans will snap up, and which in its basic premise follows that of the movie, The Flight of the Navigator, Joey suddenly disappears from a lakeside camp and reappears just as mysteriously two years later, to find himself with a baby sister, a younger brother who’s bigger than he is, and friends who have moved on in their lives. Joey has only vague memories of a great spiral of light, a shadowy presence, and a sound like wind chimes, all of which he keeps to himself, not wanting to be thought crazy. Joey’s efforts to recreate a normal life go awry when, first, his version of events gets out, and second, an insistent voice in his head begins urging him to return to the lake. Although the plot is disjointed and contrivance- driven, Joey’s feeling of dislocation, and the discomfort others feel in his presence, is credibly presented, and the climactic scene, in which the alien appears to convey Joey back to the time and place from which he vanished, features the requisite glaring lights, odd gravitational effects, and weird atmosphere. Butts (Cheshire Moon, 1996) doesn’t try too hard to answer questions or maintain her story’s internal logic, but it’s rare to find stories for young people about closer encounters that aren’t played for laughs. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: April 30, 1998

ISBN: 1-886910-27-8

Page Count: 160

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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CAN OF WORMS

by Kathy Mackel ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999

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A misfit seventh grader’s half-serious conviction that he’s an alien proves well-founded in this wild, slime-and-monster-filled romp from Mackel (A Season Of Comebacks, 1997). The tales Mike spins to a rapt audience of younger neighbors, about hideous reptilian invaders called Jongs, come home to roost when, after a horribly embarrassing computer prank, he constructs a powerful transmitter out of household electronics and beams a plea for help into the night sky. Suddenly, he’s besieged by nonhuman “rescuers,” from a sluglike Bom, eager to open a raft of personal injury suits on Mike’s behalf, to Barnabus, an entity-rights worker from (where else?) Sirius. Thinking better of his original impulse, Mike fends them off until, to his dismay and elation, an actual Jong swoops down, intending to add him and any other convenient beings to its personal zoo. Mike contrives to defeat the Jong and release its menagerie, setting the stage for an unforgettable Halloween parade through town. In the end, despite proof that his stories are actually suppressed memories, Mike elects to stay on Earth with family and friends. Fans of such escapades as Gene De Weese’s Black Suits from Outer Space (1989), Jonathan Etra and Stephanie Spinner’s Aliens For Breakfast (1988) and Mel Gilden’s Pumpkins of Time (1994) will welcome this with open arms, tentacles, and pseudopods. (Fiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: April 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-380-97681-1

Page Count: 146

Publisher: Avon/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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BOOST
by Kathy Mackel

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MADCAT
by Kathy Mackel

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ALIEN IN A BOTTLE
by Kathy Mackel

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GUESS WHOSE SHADOW?

by Stephen R. Swinburne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1999

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Swinburne sets out to teach young children about how shadows are created, describing night as a shadow on the earth, and giving children tangible reasons for why shadows vary in size, shape, and location. The latter half of the book invites readers to guess the origins of the shadows in vivid full-color photographs; subsequent pages provide the answers to the mysteries. A foreword contains information regarding the scientific reasons for shadows, which can be explained to small children, but it is the array of photographs that truly invites youngsters to take a closer look and analyze the world around them with an eye for the details. (Picture book/nonfiction. 3-5).