THE LAST UNIVERSE

A summer ruined by having to cater to her brother’s inexplicable illness leaves Susan friendless, bored and resentful enough to become a poster child for teen angst. But how can she know that things will get worse—much worse—and soon? Slowly, Susan and her brother Gary connect his increasingly serious weakness to disturbing events in the garden of their ancestral home—circumstances that introduce the dual concepts of quantum theory and the uncertainty principle. As in much science fiction, plot drives this book and concepts drive the plot. Susan’s fearfulness and Gary’s manipulative bullying ring true, adding suspense to the mix. After Sleator sets the scene, the story takes off and tension builds exponentially to a totally surprising conclusion. Although explanations of quantum events are occasionally heavy-handed, the exploits of these two teens in trouble, guided by a cat with strange abilities, will keep readers turning pages until the very end of this exploration of multiple universes. (Science fiction. 12-14)