THE SPIRIT HOUSE

Julie, 15, frankly expresses her dread over her family's decision to sponsor a "weird little Asian guy" (from Thailand) as a foreign exchange student, but when stylish Bia arrives to spend a year, he charms them all. Even Julie is awed by him, but she soon grows suspicious—he doesn't look like the photograph they received before he came, nor do his current interests match those he described in a letter. When Julie's little brother builds a Thai spirit house (a traditional household shrine) as a gift for Bia, life is oddly changed by its inhabitant. The female spirit has both vengeful and generous aspects; revealed, their effects on Bia are ultimately dire. Playfully, Sleator uses misconceptions about race and feminism to create suspense; Julie and her well-educated parents are all guilty of various kinds of stereotyping (she becomes enlightened by book's end, while they remain—well, parents). Best, however, is the logical explanation of seemingly supernatural events: the reader suspends belief only to have it systematically restored. That's a feat—and a treat. (Fiction. 10+)