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The Phantom Limb
Isaac is the new kid in town. His mother, Vera, is in the hospital with a mysterious illness, and the only person left to care for Isaac is his distant grandfather. Friendless and often alone, Isaac loses himself in his collection of optical illusions, including a strange mirror box that he finds in his new house, left behind by the previous tenants. Designed for amputees, it creates the illusion of a second limb. Lonely Isaac wishes someone would reach out to him, and then someone does—a phantom limb within the mirror box! It signs to Isaac about a growing someone who has murdered before and is out to get Vera next. The only way Isaac can solve the mystery and save his mother is with the help of the mirror box. But can he trust the phantom limb?
228 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2011
3 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
William Sleator
50 books325 followersWilliam Warner Sleator III was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 13, 1945, and moved to St. Louis, MO when he was three. He graduated from University City High School in 1963, from Harvard in 1967 with BAs in music and English.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 6, 2011
**Full review below.**
I feel terrible giving this such a low rating but the book deserves it. The worst thing is, this is a cool premise that could have been turned into a worthwhile story, but this book is incoherent, illogical, disjointed, contrived, and though supposedly written for ages 14 and up, reads like it's for fourth graders.
The best thing about this book was that it inspired me to google “mirror boxes” and read more about the therapeutic uses (often called “anecdotal” by physicians, which is a fancy way of saying that they are not supported by scientific experiments) to relieve phantom limb pain in amputees. Perhaps, like optical illusion enthusiast Isaac, I feel a “macabre excitement” for the ways our minds trick us into seeing and believing the impossible. It’s just kind of freakin’ neat. I also googled the other optical illusions in Isaac’s collection -- “The Snake”, “All Is Vanity”, the Necker cube, the Menger sponge, and the spiral aftereffect – and I have a fun project for you to do. Ready? Okay. Go to your favorite search engine and look at images of the rotating snake and then the spiral aftereffect. Look as long as you can. Then try to get up from your computer and walk away.
See? You’re on the floor now. Isn’t that cool? Oh, are you bleeding? Sorry. Maybe I should have told you to line your floor with pillows first, or put on a crash helmet.
You have to stare at optical illusions while reading this book, because it gets you in the right head space for reading something that makes so little sense. In fact, I think the book is some kind of trick. Maybe if I read it again, it will morph into a good book, kind of like the way the woman at the vanity turns into a skull in “All Is Vanity”. But I don’t think so.
The plot of this one is convoluted and disjointed, with too many threads that never connect or only connect because of some ridiculous contrivances. When Isaac uses the mirror box, a limb remains in the box even after he removes his own arms, and this phantom limb attempts to communicate with him using gestures and images. Inexplicably, it also gives Isaac visions of the past and present as seen through bathroom mirrors. (Don’t ask.) Isaac learns that the previous owner of the mirror box was murdered after having an unneeded arm amputation, and his mother, who is in the hospital after a seizure, is the next target. Not only is she always doped up when he goes to visit, she’s already been diagnosed (falsely) with bone cancer and is slated for an amputation. (He learns this by easily hacking into the hospital records on one of the computers at the nurse’s stations in the two seconds that they’re all conveniently away.) His mother is also a pianist, just like the previous victim! The killer nurse must hate pianists!
Seriously, guys, I can’t explain how Isaac learns the story of the killer nurse and her previous victims, because it doesn’t really make sense. The takeaway is that Isaac realizes he needs to rescue his mother by sneaking her out of the hospital, and that all of his investigations put him on the killer nurse’s radar. Because she has the power of medical red tape, apparently, she attempts to get rid of Isaac by drugging him, telling others he passed out, and signing false medical orders while he’s unconscious, which leads to him having invasive medical treatments (he gets a freakin’ endoscopy and a CAT scan!) at the hands of unbelievably unaware doctors who are just following “orders”. These scenes are terrifying, to be sure, especially the endoscopy, but they also had me screaming at the lack of plausibility.
Equally implausible is the scene where Isaac eventually convinces his mother’s doctor that something is wrong with her treatment and they confront the killer nurse together, who the doctor confesses she’s always been suspicious of. The doctor is all, “why is my patient always unconscious”, “why is my patient’s diagnosis suddenly saying osteosarcoma when she had no symptoms a week ago”, “why does my patient suddenly have a huge sore on her arm and her son says you are burning her with acid” – but THEN – duh duh duuuuuuuh – her beeper goes off. Too bad, she has to do an emergency brain surgery that could take hours! Sorry, Isaac, you’re on your own! Let’s not even bother to CALL SECURITY to investigate the obvious mistreatment and forging of medical records we just discovered!
My recommendation to stare at optical illusions so long that you fall down serves another purpose, as well; it’s especially important to understand a key scene in this book, because Isaac literally fells all of the people on a hospital floor with the spiral aftereffect. Isaac’s version of the optical illusion, in addition to being portable and able to be wielded like some kind of Dizzy Ray, is somehow hypnotic, because nobody thinks of closing their eyes, or looking away, or anything. They just stare at it until they collapse. Even the killer nurse, coming at him with a drill saw.
And those are some of the many, many illogical things that happen in this book. Some more include Isaac’s grandfather suddenly shaking off his Alzheimer’s/dementia in order to help Isaac rescue his mother; a bullying set of identical twins that hate Isaac suddenly agreeing to help him; a school buddy accepting Isaac’s crazy story about the killer nurse and the phantom limb by saying “I’d think you were crazy, except . . . for some reason I don’t”; and one scene in particular that kills me every time, when Isaac decides to go to bed for the night just after he gets a huge lead in the case that tells him to go look at his optical illusions, which are just UPSTAIRS. I'm sorry, miss your 9 p.m. bed time for once!
I won’t go into all of them, because I’m getting punch-drunk with criticism, and aside from this novel, I respect William Sleator for many of his other works, which have maybe never been the best written but have always been thought-provoking and surprising. Skip this one, read House of Stairs or The Last Universe, and have your mind blown in a good way.
I feel terrible giving this such a low rating but the book deserves it. The worst thing is, this is a cool premise that could have been turned into a worthwhile story, but this book is incoherent, illogical, disjointed, contrived, and though supposedly written for ages 14 and up, reads like it's for fourth graders.
The best thing about this book was that it inspired me to google “mirror boxes” and read more about the therapeutic uses (often called “anecdotal” by physicians, which is a fancy way of saying that they are not supported by scientific experiments) to relieve phantom limb pain in amputees. Perhaps, like optical illusion enthusiast Isaac, I feel a “macabre excitement” for the ways our minds trick us into seeing and believing the impossible. It’s just kind of freakin’ neat. I also googled the other optical illusions in Isaac’s collection -- “The Snake”, “All Is Vanity”, the Necker cube, the Menger sponge, and the spiral aftereffect – and I have a fun project for you to do. Ready? Okay. Go to your favorite search engine and look at images of the rotating snake and then the spiral aftereffect. Look as long as you can. Then try to get up from your computer and walk away.
See? You’re on the floor now. Isn’t that cool? Oh, are you bleeding? Sorry. Maybe I should have told you to line your floor with pillows first, or put on a crash helmet.
You have to stare at optical illusions while reading this book, because it gets you in the right head space for reading something that makes so little sense. In fact, I think the book is some kind of trick. Maybe if I read it again, it will morph into a good book, kind of like the way the woman at the vanity turns into a skull in “All Is Vanity”. But I don’t think so.
The plot of this one is convoluted and disjointed, with too many threads that never connect or only connect because of some ridiculous contrivances. When Isaac uses the mirror box, a limb remains in the box even after he removes his own arms, and this phantom limb attempts to communicate with him using gestures and images. Inexplicably, it also gives Isaac visions of the past and present as seen through bathroom mirrors. (Don’t ask.) Isaac learns that the previous owner of the mirror box was murdered after having an unneeded arm amputation, and his mother, who is in the hospital after a seizure, is the next target. Not only is she always doped up when he goes to visit, she’s already been diagnosed (falsely) with bone cancer and is slated for an amputation. (He learns this by easily hacking into the hospital records on one of the computers at the nurse’s stations in the two seconds that they’re all conveniently away.) His mother is also a pianist, just like the previous victim! The killer nurse must hate pianists!
Seriously, guys, I can’t explain how Isaac learns the story of the killer nurse and her previous victims, because it doesn’t really make sense. The takeaway is that Isaac realizes he needs to rescue his mother by sneaking her out of the hospital, and that all of his investigations put him on the killer nurse’s radar. Because she has the power of medical red tape, apparently, she attempts to get rid of Isaac by drugging him, telling others he passed out, and signing false medical orders while he’s unconscious, which leads to him having invasive medical treatments (he gets a freakin’ endoscopy and a CAT scan!) at the hands of unbelievably unaware doctors who are just following “orders”. These scenes are terrifying, to be sure, especially the endoscopy, but they also had me screaming at the lack of plausibility.
Equally implausible is the scene where Isaac eventually convinces his mother’s doctor that something is wrong with her treatment and they confront the killer nurse together, who the doctor confesses she’s always been suspicious of. The doctor is all, “why is my patient always unconscious”, “why is my patient’s diagnosis suddenly saying osteosarcoma when she had no symptoms a week ago”, “why does my patient suddenly have a huge sore on her arm and her son says you are burning her with acid” – but THEN – duh duh duuuuuuuh – her beeper goes off. Too bad, she has to do an emergency brain surgery that could take hours! Sorry, Isaac, you’re on your own! Let’s not even bother to CALL SECURITY to investigate the obvious mistreatment and forging of medical records we just discovered!
My recommendation to stare at optical illusions so long that you fall down serves another purpose, as well; it’s especially important to understand a key scene in this book, because Isaac literally fells all of the people on a hospital floor with the spiral aftereffect. Isaac’s version of the optical illusion, in addition to being portable and able to be wielded like some kind of Dizzy Ray, is somehow hypnotic, because nobody thinks of closing their eyes, or looking away, or anything. They just stare at it until they collapse. Even the killer nurse, coming at him with a drill saw.
And those are some of the many, many illogical things that happen in this book. Some more include Isaac’s grandfather suddenly shaking off his Alzheimer’s/dementia in order to help Isaac rescue his mother; a bullying set of identical twins that hate Isaac suddenly agreeing to help him; a school buddy accepting Isaac’s crazy story about the killer nurse and the phantom limb by saying “I’d think you were crazy, except . . . for some reason I don’t”; and one scene in particular that kills me every time, when Isaac decides to go to bed for the night just after he gets a huge lead in the case that tells him to go look at his optical illusions, which are just UPSTAIRS. I'm sorry, miss your 9 p.m. bed time for once!
I won’t go into all of them, because I’m getting punch-drunk with criticism, and aside from this novel, I respect William Sleator for many of his other works, which have maybe never been the best written but have always been thought-provoking and surprising. Skip this one, read House of Stairs or The Last Universe, and have your mind blown in a good way.
September 2, 2011
I was sad to have to give this book only two stars, as William Sleator is one of my all-time favorite authors. But although the premise was interesting, the book never really came together for me. My favorite things about Sleator's work are the scientific explainations and the transformation of the main character. I found Isaac wholly unlikable, and although he stopped the murderer, I never felt that he became a better person, or learned anything from the experience. The bit about the optical illusions was interesting, but not quite enough. I wanted something to fascinate me to the point where I wanted to research it further, as I have done after reading nearly all of Sleator's other works.
June 22, 2013
I felt like this book couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be. I found it genuinely creepy. At some point I was surprised that so much serial-killer stuff had made it into a middle-grade book, so I checked the target age range... And was shocked to see that it was being marketed to 14 and up. The characters read more like 4th or 5th graders than high schoolers.
The phantom limb in the mirror box ought to give the book a supernatural feel, but it never really feels like any of the characters are suspending disbelief. They say they are, but something's off. It's as if a dead kid communicating through a phantom limb is unusual, but not outside the realm of possibility.
The "realistic" parts, like family dynamics and school cliques and hospital rooms, aren't realistic enough; I just didn't find any of it believable. In part, I think this was because the characters are too cardboard. But it also felt like the entire world had been dumbed down. Yeah, life is tough when a grandparent has dementia, but then granddad snaps out of it kit when grandson needs him most, and grandson thinks it must have been depression and now it's all better. Yeah, school sucks when bullies pick on you mercilessly, but if you just ask them and their friends nicely and sincerely, most of them will help you and turn out to be pretty cool people. Yeah, hospitals suck, but at least you won't have any trouble finding the people you know because there are only 2 nurses who ever work in the ICU.
So... Characters who are supposed to be in high school but act like 5th graders, supernatural elements but no supernatural atmosphere, unbelievable situations but not enough fantasy to allow us to suspend disbelief... This book just doesn't hit the mark.
However, it was truly creepy, fast-paced, and action-packed, so I suspect there is a group of boys out there who would read it quite happily.
(Note: I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Amulet Books!)
The phantom limb in the mirror box ought to give the book a supernatural feel, but it never really feels like any of the characters are suspending disbelief. They say they are, but something's off. It's as if a dead kid communicating through a phantom limb is unusual, but not outside the realm of possibility.
The "realistic" parts, like family dynamics and school cliques and hospital rooms, aren't realistic enough; I just didn't find any of it believable. In part, I think this was because the characters are too cardboard. But it also felt like the entire world had been dumbed down. Yeah, life is tough when a grandparent has dementia, but then granddad snaps out of it kit when grandson needs him most, and grandson thinks it must have been depression and now it's all better. Yeah, school sucks when bullies pick on you mercilessly, but if you just ask them and their friends nicely and sincerely, most of them will help you and turn out to be pretty cool people. Yeah, hospitals suck, but at least you won't have any trouble finding the people you know because there are only 2 nurses who ever work in the ICU.
So... Characters who are supposed to be in high school but act like 5th graders, supernatural elements but no supernatural atmosphere, unbelievable situations but not enough fantasy to allow us to suspend disbelief... This book just doesn't hit the mark.
However, it was truly creepy, fast-paced, and action-packed, so I suspect there is a group of boys out there who would read it quite happily.
(Note: I received a free advance reading copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Amulet Books!)
July 5, 2015
This was not Sleator's best work, and I think it was completed by someone else after he died. It shows. It badly needs an editor. As in any Sleator book, there were some really cool concepts, but this could have been way more to the point. It feels like a first draft.
Isaac is a dorky kid who is interested in optical illusions. He has a collection of them at home. They're the only thing that distracts him from being bullied at school, his mom's health problems, and his grandfather's forgetfulness. One day, he finds a strange object in the storage room of his apartment! He soon ascertains that it is a mirror box for phantom limb therapy, and that it belonged to the young boy whose family lived in the apartment before his family. While playing with the mirror box, a "real" phantom limb appears that belonged to the boy. It tries to communicate with him. Apparently, it is warning Isaac that his mom, who is hospitalized for a seizure disorder, is in danger. There's a crooked doctor who likes to amputate people's limbs for fun! This person got to Joey, but if Isaac hurries, he can save his mom. After several times of going to school and the hospital and other places without accomplishing anything, Isaac and Joey's phantom limb save the day, with the help of Isaac's grandpa, some optical illusions, two mean candy stripers, and a hunky football player from school. Yeah, whatever.
This was no Strange Attractors, no Into the Dream, and certainly no House of Stairs. You could tell it could have been good, but Sleator was probably in pretty bad shape when he tried to write this, and the publishers did little to salvage it.
It's OK, I still love you, William Sleator.
Isaac is a dorky kid who is interested in optical illusions. He has a collection of them at home. They're the only thing that distracts him from being bullied at school, his mom's health problems, and his grandfather's forgetfulness. One day, he finds a strange object in the storage room of his apartment! He soon ascertains that it is a mirror box for phantom limb therapy, and that it belonged to the young boy whose family lived in the apartment before his family. While playing with the mirror box, a "real" phantom limb appears that belonged to the boy. It tries to communicate with him. Apparently, it is warning Isaac that his mom, who is hospitalized for a seizure disorder, is in danger. There's a crooked doctor who likes to amputate people's limbs for fun! This person got to Joey, but if Isaac hurries, he can save his mom. After several times of going to school and the hospital and other places without accomplishing anything, Isaac and Joey's phantom limb save the day, with the help of Isaac's grandpa, some optical illusions, two mean candy stripers, and a hunky football player from school. Yeah, whatever.
This was no Strange Attractors, no Into the Dream, and certainly no House of Stairs. You could tell it could have been good, but Sleator was probably in pretty bad shape when he tried to write this, and the publishers did little to salvage it.
It's OK, I still love you, William Sleator.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2011
I read a lot of strange books but this one, by far, is the strangest book I have ever read. It wasn’t bad. It was a fast-paced book, with interesting mystery. The reason for the “Look it Up” rating, is because even though I liked the book, a lot of others dislike it. I suggest checking out the other reviews, before reading this book.
And onto to the story.
Issac has a hard life. His father died, his mother was admitted into the hospital, and his grandpa is slowly losing his marbles. He is just a kid, but I feel like he has to be the grown up sometimes, to take care of the family. The new house that they have moved into, some items were left behind by the previous owners, including a mysterious mirrored box.
It turns out the mirror box was used for people that had amputated arms. Sometimes they would feel pain on the side they had cut off, and aren’t able to control the pain. The box purpose is so they can put one arm in, and the mirror will show a reflection that looks like they have two arms. You move your right arm, and it looks like your left arm is moving.
It’s really creepy, but Issac is even more creeped out. His box has a phantom limb of a boy that has died recently. This phantom limb is trying to help Issac get his mom out of the hospital. Someone has killed the boy, and he is letting Issac know that his mom is next.
As story continues, I was putting the pieces together in my head trying to figure out who is the killer. I was looking for a motif like those crime investigators do. It turns I figured out who the murderer was before Issac.
So, I say this was an easy book. I liked that it was fast paced, and the mystery was really chilling. When I was reading this the other night, I had really bad dream about my arm being cut off. Totally freaked me out.
-Ivy
And onto to the story.
Issac has a hard life. His father died, his mother was admitted into the hospital, and his grandpa is slowly losing his marbles. He is just a kid, but I feel like he has to be the grown up sometimes, to take care of the family. The new house that they have moved into, some items were left behind by the previous owners, including a mysterious mirrored box.
It turns out the mirror box was used for people that had amputated arms. Sometimes they would feel pain on the side they had cut off, and aren’t able to control the pain. The box purpose is so they can put one arm in, and the mirror will show a reflection that looks like they have two arms. You move your right arm, and it looks like your left arm is moving.
It’s really creepy, but Issac is even more creeped out. His box has a phantom limb of a boy that has died recently. This phantom limb is trying to help Issac get his mom out of the hospital. Someone has killed the boy, and he is letting Issac know that his mom is next.
As story continues, I was putting the pieces together in my head trying to figure out who is the killer. I was looking for a motif like those crime investigators do. It turns I figured out who the murderer was before Issac.
So, I say this was an easy book. I liked that it was fast paced, and the mystery was really chilling. When I was reading this the other night, I had really bad dream about my arm being cut off. Totally freaked me out.
-Ivy
September 28, 2012
The Phatom Limb by by William Sleator and Ann Monticone is about a boy trying to adjust to a new life brought on by his mother's prolonged illness and the move to a new school, where he is the target of a bully.
Isaac lives with his grandfather while his mother is at the nearby hospital. To take away some of the sting of being the odd man out at the new school, Isaac has started collecting optical illusions. His newest acquisition is a mirror box, a device designed to help amputees deal with phantom limb syndrome.
Although Isaac should be able to control the reflected limb in the box, the limb appears to have a mind of its own. Soon Isaac realizes that the mirror limb belongs to someone else and the box is their way of communicating! The boy in the mirror box knows things about Vera's illness — things that could be a matter of life or death!
The events in The Phantom Limb require a similar amount of suspended disbelief as the old Goosebumps series. There are leaps in logic and some pacing issues, especially in the last third.
This collaboration is the last of Sleator's novels. He passed away in August 2011, three months before the book's release. Some of the book's feeling of incompleteness might stem from his death. The Phantom Limb has a unique premise but it just doesn't quite come together.
Read via NetGalley
Isaac lives with his grandfather while his mother is at the nearby hospital. To take away some of the sting of being the odd man out at the new school, Isaac has started collecting optical illusions. His newest acquisition is a mirror box, a device designed to help amputees deal with phantom limb syndrome.
Although Isaac should be able to control the reflected limb in the box, the limb appears to have a mind of its own. Soon Isaac realizes that the mirror limb belongs to someone else and the box is their way of communicating! The boy in the mirror box knows things about Vera's illness — things that could be a matter of life or death!
The events in The Phantom Limb require a similar amount of suspended disbelief as the old Goosebumps series. There are leaps in logic and some pacing issues, especially in the last third.
This collaboration is the last of Sleator's novels. He passed away in August 2011, three months before the book's release. Some of the book's feeling of incompleteness might stem from his death. The Phantom Limb has a unique premise but it just doesn't quite come together.
Read via NetGalley
January 28, 2012
I think I might be being generous when I give this book 2 stars. It just genuinely wasn't very good. This book felt very juvenile. I just couldn’t get past the childish view Isaac had on life, from the way the twins bullied him, to the way he let bad things happen to him. Plus, the book was set in the ‘real world’, however, there was a phantom arm in the mirror box, and quasi magical things kept happening with absolutely no explanation. I feel like this book could have turned out so well, but the way it was written and the character just ruined it. The middle dragged and the ending just…ended.
I tried to feel for Isaac about his grandfather and about his mother, but I couldn’t ever get any real deep emotion out of him. I also feel like the book is unrealistic. All of the things that go down in the hospital he visits just would happen, it’s implausible. Or, if it isn’t, I hope I never go to a hospital! I did like that there were so many clues brought in, and I never once predicted who it was in the end. I think the authors can put together a nice mystery, but the story as a whole fell flat on its face.
I tried to feel for Isaac about his grandfather and about his mother, but I couldn’t ever get any real deep emotion out of him. I also feel like the book is unrealistic. All of the things that go down in the hospital he visits just would happen, it’s implausible. Or, if it isn’t, I hope I never go to a hospital! I did like that there were so many clues brought in, and I never once predicted who it was in the end. I think the authors can put together a nice mystery, but the story as a whole fell flat on its face.
September 6, 2011
Read the electronic galley through Netgalley. Unfortunately, The Phantom Limb was a huge disappointment, especially coming from such a well-regarded author. The story felt way too contrived and forced; the realistic parts (the workings of the hospital) were completely implausible, even given literary license. The premise of the mirror box and optical illusions was fascinating, but clumsily woven into the story. The suspense and thriller aspects were weak at best. Even though this is targeted for YA, it felt like it was written for a much younger audience. The kindle version of the galley only partially displayed the illustrations which hopefully will be appealing in the print version. It may appeal to reluctant readers despite its flaws.
June 5, 2013
I read William Sleator's books (particularly Interstellar Pig and Singularity) when I was a kid, and the mix of horror and science fiction was a hit with me, so I was excited to read this new book, The Phantom Limb. The story was compelling, but not so creepy as I remembered the other books being, so this might be good for 3rd or 4th grade and up. In the preview copy I read, it was difficult to tell whether Dr. Ciano was a man or a woman, and that was a bit confusing. The name DCynthia was annoying to read. Having a section in the back of the book that included a few of the optical illusions mentioned in the book would probably be a hit with the kids. Overall, I'd recommend this to average readers in 4th and 5th grade, and middle school students who were a little behind.
August 17, 2011
I liked the "who is trying to kill my Mom" parts of this, and the discussion of optical illusions and therapy for amputees, but disliked the feeling of helplessness that the main character, Isaac, exudes for the first third of the book. Ditto for his mom. That said, the evil person is truly twisted and I like that in a villain. The development of Isaac's friendship with the class jock was interesting, but seemed a bit forced. A quick read, perhaps of interest to reluctant readers who like thrillers.
July 10, 2013
I have to say, I'm really disappointed in this book and it is not what I have come to expect from Sleator. Perhaps his writing style just doesn't age well, but this book seemed very spelled out and obvious, more like a children's book than a lot of the young adult literature I have read.
I want to go back and re-read some of my favorites by Sleator at some point. I hope that they are still as good as I remember them to be and that this is just a really poor example of Sleator's work.
I want to go back and re-read some of my favorites by Sleator at some point. I hope that they are still as good as I remember them to be and that this is just a really poor example of Sleator's work.
May 7, 2015
This was a very strange story. Sleator's books tend to be a little off the wall anyway. In this story Isaac's mother is in the hospital for rare s seizures and Isaac has to go to a new school. He has hard a hard life. Hi father passed away, mom is sick and grandpa, who has moved in with them is starting to have dementia. This story has definite twists. Some of the story seemed superficial to me and the premise was really odd. I don't see myself passing this on.
December 17, 2012
This is a fun mystery about science and technology. It reminded me of an R.L. Stine book I read to students when I taught middle school though much more sophisticated. I particularly enjoyed the science in this book.
I'd recommend it to students who are moving from the R.L. Stine books to young adult books.
I'd recommend it to students who are moving from the R.L. Stine books to young adult books.
February 4, 2012
It was ok... I hated the ending, and it didn't fit together very logically. The text is written like something for smaller kids, and yet the plot is more for teenagers. It was an interesting premise, and I feel that the author could have done more with it.
August 8, 2012
I am a fan of Sleator, but this book is not at all what I expect from him. It is sad to think that this is his last novel. It is very slow starting and after about halfway through things get so contrived that I had to quit reading. If you want a great Sleator book, read The Boxes.
December 16, 2016
While an interesting premise and possibly enjoyed by anyone with an interest in optical illusions, the story is pretty implausible with many loose ends.
November 10, 2011
Really bad. I couldn't finish it. If my third-grader wrote this, I'd tell him I was proud, but I'd never show it to anybody.
July 19, 2012
non-stop action; happy ending
June 5, 2013
Pretty good book. I would suggest reading it around Halloween. Pretty scary book with lots of surprises throughout. will not disappoint.
June 13, 2013
Sleator's last book and no less suspenseful than his others. Love the scientific explanations for optical illusions. I also liked the relationship between Issac and his grandfather.
January 4, 2015
I've loved William Sleator since I was a kid, so I have to read anything he writes. This is definitely not one of his best.
May 5, 2018
I read this because it was the only William Sleater eBook available from the LA Public library system and because, when I was a kid, I loved me some William Sleator. His book Interstellar Pig totally blew my mind. I barely remember the book now, but I bought it from eBay along with some other William Sleator books from his hayday so I will reread it to see if it is as great as I remembered.
I think this was WS's last book before his death, and it's a collaboration with another author, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say "nice try." But it's a very poorly-written book that makes very little sense. It starts off with a boatload of exposition and the writing throughout it is, well, artless. I mean, ok, this is a middle grade book. But I still think the prose could have been improved.
Worse than the prose was the plot. Why did the authors make Isaac's grandfather a vegetable and then wake him out of it without an explanation? Wouldn't it have been better to just never have had him be a veggie? Why can the mirror box do so many magical things? Why is the doctor such a moron? Why doesn't Vera just check herself out of the hospital? "I want a second opinion" are wonderful words. Vera could have even arranged an ambulance pickup, if it came to that. Why was the dead kid's mom so scared to talk to Isaac? It seemed like something might come of that, but nothing did. Why was Vera suddenly so out of it at the end after she was so with it earlier in the evening, chugging coffee and gaining strength?
That's only scratching the surface of the plot problems found here. Who beta-read this?
Ugggh, it's just a bad book. But I'm a grownup and it only took me two afternoons of reading to finish it so whatever. I hope kids don't get hold of this. It could turn them off reading.
I think this was WS's last book before his death, and it's a collaboration with another author, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say "nice try." But it's a very poorly-written book that makes very little sense. It starts off with a boatload of exposition and the writing throughout it is, well, artless. I mean, ok, this is a middle grade book. But I still think the prose could have been improved.
Worse than the prose was the plot. Why did the authors make Isaac's grandfather a vegetable and then wake him out of it without an explanation? Wouldn't it have been better to just never have had him be a veggie? Why can the mirror box do so many magical things? Why is the doctor such a moron? Why doesn't Vera just check herself out of the hospital? "I want a second opinion" are wonderful words. Vera could have even arranged an ambulance pickup, if it came to that. Why was the dead kid's mom so scared to talk to Isaac? It seemed like something might come of that, but nothing did. Why was Vera suddenly so out of it at the end after she was so with it earlier in the evening, chugging coffee and gaining strength?
That's only scratching the surface of the plot problems found here. Who beta-read this?
Ugggh, it's just a bad book. But I'm a grownup and it only took me two afternoons of reading to finish it so whatever. I hope kids don't get hold of this. It could turn them off reading.
September 16, 2022
I was hopeful when I saw the pretty divergent reviews for this book - people either loved it or hated it - that it was going to be an interesting read. And for certain parts, I suppose it was. But it's a mess.
Briefly, a boy's mom is in the hospital with an undiagnosed illness. The boy discovers a 'mirror box' in the attic in which an illusion makes you think you have a phantom arm that isn't there (or something). Except this mirror box is haunted by a boy who had his arm amputated which caused him to die because that's a thing that happens in modern hospitals.
Yada yada yada we spend about 2/3rd of the book slowly trying to break mom out of the hospital because she doesn't seem to be getting any better. There is one line that says 'why can't she just check out?' and the answer is 'because the nurse said she's too fragile.' Yeah that's not how the law works - you can check out of a hospital if you want as long as you're not a danger to yourself or others.
There are numerous plot holes and the dialogue is just atrocious. For some reason the mirror box can make the MC have visions and he sees the villain talking in a room and saying something like "darn, why did I lose that poison? The poison I was going to use to kill the MC's mom? If only I had that poison, I could kill her and she'd be super dead" and it's like...children are young but they're not handicapped. They don't need things spelled out this blatantly.
Anyway, a rushed and vague and unexplained deus ex machina ending arrives and there is about a one-page epilogue in which every single thing in the world is magically put right. Yay?
Briefly, a boy's mom is in the hospital with an undiagnosed illness. The boy discovers a 'mirror box' in the attic in which an illusion makes you think you have a phantom arm that isn't there (or something). Except this mirror box is haunted by a boy who had his arm amputated which caused him to die because that's a thing that happens in modern hospitals.
Yada yada yada we spend about 2/3rd of the book slowly trying to break mom out of the hospital because she doesn't seem to be getting any better. There is one line that says 'why can't she just check out?' and the answer is 'because the nurse said she's too fragile.' Yeah that's not how the law works - you can check out of a hospital if you want as long as you're not a danger to yourself or others.
There are numerous plot holes and the dialogue is just atrocious. For some reason the mirror box can make the MC have visions and he sees the villain talking in a room and saying something like "darn, why did I lose that poison? The poison I was going to use to kill the MC's mom? If only I had that poison, I could kill her and she'd be super dead" and it's like...children are young but they're not handicapped. They don't need things spelled out this blatantly.
Anyway, a rushed and vague and unexplained deus ex machina ending arrives and there is about a one-page epilogue in which every single thing in the world is magically put right. Yay?
January 20, 2023
.More reviews like this one on my blog Snapdragon Alcove
Find this on my hoopla app and I was expecting this to be weird like The Demon’s Mirror by James S. Wallerstein so that I can ponder why I keep finding these books. Unlike The Demon’s Mirror, The Phantom Limb has a straightforward story that doesn’t try to be everything at once.
Isaac’s feeling of helplessness with his mother being in the hospital and knowing that the doctor is abusing her hits hard. Isaac trying to do something about it is a strong motive for the plot. The horror that happens to Isaac gives a sense of dread.
While the plot is interesting. The writing could have been better. There are sentences that could have been written better. After every dialogue tag, there is an adjustive. As a rule of writing, don’t use adjectives every time after a dialogue tag. Instead, mix the description of the action and body language. Your writing will be stronger and smoother.
I enjoy The Phantom Limb for what it is. It is good for creating horror. Mirror boxes are actually a thing that amputees used. That is a cool thing I find out while reading this book. I like the idea of a ghost arm in the mirror box. It adds a unique flavor to the ghost thing. The writing, however, needs work.
YA horror is hard to come by. Sometimes a book looks like it is for MG until you read it and realize it appeals more to a teen audience. Cir do Freak series is a good example of that.
Find this on my hoopla app and I was expecting this to be weird like The Demon’s Mirror by James S. Wallerstein so that I can ponder why I keep finding these books. Unlike The Demon’s Mirror, The Phantom Limb has a straightforward story that doesn’t try to be everything at once.
Isaac’s feeling of helplessness with his mother being in the hospital and knowing that the doctor is abusing her hits hard. Isaac trying to do something about it is a strong motive for the plot. The horror that happens to Isaac gives a sense of dread.
While the plot is interesting. The writing could have been better. There are sentences that could have been written better. After every dialogue tag, there is an adjustive. As a rule of writing, don’t use adjectives every time after a dialogue tag. Instead, mix the description of the action and body language. Your writing will be stronger and smoother.
I enjoy The Phantom Limb for what it is. It is good for creating horror. Mirror boxes are actually a thing that amputees used. That is a cool thing I find out while reading this book. I like the idea of a ghost arm in the mirror box. It adds a unique flavor to the ghost thing. The writing, however, needs work.
YA horror is hard to come by. Sometimes a book looks like it is for MG until you read it and realize it appeals more to a teen audience. Cir do Freak series is a good example of that.
August 5, 2019
Seriously the weirdest effing book I've read in a very long time. So so weird.
November 8, 2020
This is a quick-reading thriller for young adults. I liked that the plot was easy to understand, and that the young people worked together to achieve their goal.
October 31, 2011
First Line: Finally, Friday afternoon and the last bell- the moment he lived for.
What Others Are Saying: "Not even hammer-and-tongs plotting pounds this jumbled mess of random McGuffins into a coherent whole." -Kirkus Reviews
"The characters are broadly drawn, and the hospital plot isn’t particularly believable, although there’s plenty of action and a genuinely sicko villain." -Publishers Weekly
What I Thought: Ouch! Those are some pretty searing reviews. I thought the book sounded really interesting: phantom limbs, optical illusions, mystery, danger. The pace was quick because something was happening all the time. I really liked the information about different optical illusions and the mirror box and I think kids will too. Especially those that love R.L. Stine. Since I haven't read any of Sleator's other books, I didn't have anything to compare to. Was it one of the best books I've read? No. Was it horrible? No. Reading this has enticed me to read some of his other books, House of Stairs and Intersteller Pig. There are thirty that he wrote over a period of thirty years. That's impressive. Check out his other books here. Sadly, Mr. Sleator died this last August in his home in Thailand.
Author: William Sleator
February 13, 1945 – August 3, 2011
Website Maintained by his brother.
Who: Born in Havre de Grace, MD, on Feb. 13, 1945, Sleator came from a family steeped in the sciences, but drifted to the arts at a young age, crafting musical pieces for the piano as well as stories to his family's delight. For awhile, he balanced a career in both music and writing, working as an accompanist for organizations including the Boston Ballet after graduating from Harvard University. He was eventually was able to support himself full time from his storytelling. --School Library Journal
What: Best known for his dystopian stories, Sleator often placed his teenage protagonists in uneasy, sometimes frightening situations where they encountered aliens and even evil dolls. In one of his best-known books, House of Stairs (Dutton, 1974), five teenage orphans wake up, locked in a house without windows or doors. The book, named one of the 100 Best Books for Teens by the American Library Association, was the first he wrote for editor Ann Durrell, spawning the beginning of a long collaboration. -School Library Journal
How: A "...master of the creepy-crawly," as The Horn Book described him, Sleator's genius lay in "...taking vague science-fiction whimsy and using imagery to word-paint it into a stunning virtual reality," according to School Library Journal. Colleagues, too, enjoyed Sleator's work, including bestselling children's book author R. L. Stine who called Sleator one "...of my favorite young adult authors." -School Library Journal
Don't forget to check out all the other Marvelous Middle Grade Posters. Head on over to Rudy at Literary Rambles is giving away the ARC of My Very Unfairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski.
What Others Are Saying: "Not even hammer-and-tongs plotting pounds this jumbled mess of random McGuffins into a coherent whole." -Kirkus Reviews
"The characters are broadly drawn, and the hospital plot isn’t particularly believable, although there’s plenty of action and a genuinely sicko villain." -Publishers Weekly
What I Thought: Ouch! Those are some pretty searing reviews. I thought the book sounded really interesting: phantom limbs, optical illusions, mystery, danger. The pace was quick because something was happening all the time. I really liked the information about different optical illusions and the mirror box and I think kids will too. Especially those that love R.L. Stine. Since I haven't read any of Sleator's other books, I didn't have anything to compare to. Was it one of the best books I've read? No. Was it horrible? No. Reading this has enticed me to read some of his other books, House of Stairs and Intersteller Pig. There are thirty that he wrote over a period of thirty years. That's impressive. Check out his other books here. Sadly, Mr. Sleator died this last August in his home in Thailand.
Author: William Sleator
February 13, 1945 – August 3, 2011
Website Maintained by his brother.
Who: Born in Havre de Grace, MD, on Feb. 13, 1945, Sleator came from a family steeped in the sciences, but drifted to the arts at a young age, crafting musical pieces for the piano as well as stories to his family's delight. For awhile, he balanced a career in both music and writing, working as an accompanist for organizations including the Boston Ballet after graduating from Harvard University. He was eventually was able to support himself full time from his storytelling. --School Library Journal
What: Best known for his dystopian stories, Sleator often placed his teenage protagonists in uneasy, sometimes frightening situations where they encountered aliens and even evil dolls. In one of his best-known books, House of Stairs (Dutton, 1974), five teenage orphans wake up, locked in a house without windows or doors. The book, named one of the 100 Best Books for Teens by the American Library Association, was the first he wrote for editor Ann Durrell, spawning the beginning of a long collaboration. -School Library Journal
How: A "...master of the creepy-crawly," as The Horn Book described him, Sleator's genius lay in "...taking vague science-fiction whimsy and using imagery to word-paint it into a stunning virtual reality," according to School Library Journal. Colleagues, too, enjoyed Sleator's work, including bestselling children's book author R. L. Stine who called Sleator one "...of my favorite young adult authors." -School Library Journal
Don't forget to check out all the other Marvelous Middle Grade Posters. Head on over to Rudy at Literary Rambles is giving away the ARC of My Very Unfairy Tale Life by Anna Staniszewski.
January 25, 2012
This was by far the worst William Sleator story I've read. It read like someone trying to imitate his style, but very, very poorly. In sci-fi/fantasy, you generally have to make allowances for some plot holes, but this one was ridiculous. Even the parts of the story that were intended to seem realistic involved people acting in ways no sane person ever would act. Often actions would be described, and then the protagonist's thoughts on what happened would be used to further the story, but his conclusions had no basis from what was just described.
I noticed that the book actually says it was written by "William Sleator and Ann Monticone". I suspect the general outline was Sleator's but Monticone actually wrote the book. And someone decided to publish it based on Sleator's name being connected. I blame whoever entered this on Goodreads and conveniently forgot to add Monticone's name. I will remedy that situation now.
I noticed that the book actually says it was written by "William Sleator and Ann Monticone". I suspect the general outline was Sleator's but Monticone actually wrote the book. And someone decided to publish it based on Sleator's name being connected. I blame whoever entered this on Goodreads and conveniently forgot to add Monticone's name. I will remedy that situation now.
December 18, 2011
I rarely give a rating this low, and I really enjoyed "House of stairs", so I was really surprised by how much I didn't like this book. The idea is cool and the information about optical illusions and the mirror box and whatnot are interesting, but the characters are bland and there is just soooo much that is implausible or unexplained. Why does his grandfather suddenly get better? Why would the doctor not be more aware of what the nurse was doing to her patient? How did the evil nurse manage to get around the red tape enough to give a kid and endoscopy and MRI just out of the blue? Why doesn't anyone at this kid's school seem to care that he doesn't show up? Why does it seem like he's really not rushing to get his mom out of there, even though the evil nurse might cut off her arm any second? Oh, I could go on and on.
November 11, 2011
This is the second worst book I have read this year. The first was The White Fox, and this one is not far behind in bad writing, faulty plot and implausible events. This was bad. I have not read anything else by Sleator, but from the number of other books he has has published, I am inferring that he can't be that bad in his other efforts. Or, maybe he can? This just sucked. The characters are stiff, their logic is faulty and the dialogue is meaningless and stilted. The whole idea behind this book is intriguing and the optical illusions described are cool beyond a doubt, but the details of the premise are ridiculous. Don't read this. In fact, Amulet Books: Do not publish this until major revision is done.
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