THE ASCENDER

A middle school boy must solve the puzzle of why reality keeps getting rewritten in this novel.

The wave, as 12-year-old Billy Magnusson terms it, periodically hits him with a dizzying force, causing quaking that rattles “his bones” and a “jarring buzz in his ears.” Afterward, he finds that the world has changed in ways that only Billy remembers. Also dislocating are his family’s frequent moves; Billy’s father, a visionary inventor, works for the military. At his new school, Billy joins the Ascension Club, which is organized around a fascinating role-playing game. To Billy’s surprise, the club’s quirky members also remember changes after the wave, which they call the Mandela Effect since—it turns out—thousands of people remember a different outcome to the African statesman’s story. The surprises keep coming, as the wave brings Billy a brand new 8-year-old brother who’s being studied by a sinister government doctor. Further, it seems that a secret agency has been meddling with the Mandela Effect and, in the process, has erased a genius scientist from history. Now, with the help of his father, a game designer, a quantum computer, and a teleporter, Billy must set things right. Pacelli skillfully sets these remarkable events alongside the sometimes-melodramatic emotions and rivalries of middle school. While the science is complex and challenging, the story doesn’t forget its characters. These are well portrayed; for example, the Ascension Club members don’t fit into standard slots like nerd or jock, and adults aren’t clueless, as is often stereotypical in middle school novels. It’s somewhat problematic, though, that Billy’s avid interest in a pretty classmate often seems too advanced for a boy of 12: “She’d ruin his life if he let her.” That aside, the tale offers a fast-paced plot that’s absolutely bursting with ideas and will keep amazing readers.

An inventive, funny, and multilayered adventure.