The Boy Who Reversed Himself

by William Sleator

When Laura finds her homework in her locker with its writing reversed, she's baffled, until she learns an unbelievable secret: her weird neighbor, Omar, has the ability to travel to the fourth dimension. Laura forces him to take her there, and then, a novice in "four-space", she goes there on her own. There's only one problem: she doesn't know how to get back.

"A cerebral science-fiction thriller, cunningly constructed to keep the reader involved until the last pages." -The Horn Book

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Teen

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the spirit of "I loved Interstellar Pig," I decided to give another of Sleator's teenage protagonists a chance. Unfortunately, he chose to use a female point of view, and wow, was it awful. First person point of view, it's a teenage girl who is 'friends' (in the loosest, junior high school meaning of the word' with an outcast boy. He has a crush on her and she notices a few unusual things as he tries to help her turn in homework, pass tests, etc. She is aware of this and welcomes the assistance, although maintains reservations about his weirdness. She blatantly uses his affection towards her as a tactic to learn more about his mysteries, then (presumably) violates that trust and gets into trouble with her real boyfriend. I have rarely read such an outright emotionally manipulative character ('if you like me, you would tell me') and it did not sit well with me. I peeked at the ending which is one of those fast-forward-adult-life endings and, well, whatever. I'm sure there's personal transformation, but the process of getting there was too painful to read.

[Celestarius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this as a kid, maybe age 9 or 10, and it had a very lasting impact on me as it was my first real introduction to the concept of multiple spatial dimensions beyond the 3D world we know. Whenever that concept has come up since, my mind goes back to some of the imagery from this book. I've been wanting to reread it for a while but since I only have a physical copy (horror!) and I typically read in the dark, I've been putting that off. I finally did it today, though, and it only took about two hours. It's quite a bit shallower in a lot of ways than I remembered (especially the characters and their relationships... eek), but pretty typical for '80s YA (which would be more like Middle Grade now), and at the same time it hits some pretty deep, existential concepts that certainly blew my mind as an elementary schooler. I totally admit that I'm probably giving it a star higher than I would if I were reading it for the first time based on the nostalgia factor, but what it lacks in substance it makes up for pretty well in terms of introducing a complicated concept in an accessible way for kids.

[Swankivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of William Sleator's books are good science fiction for young people, even though most of them take overdone subjects for yet another ride. Sleator somehow does it differently and in a more character-oriented fashion.

This one's about alternate dimensions. A girl discovers a really interesting secret about her neighbor, and she steps into a whole new world . . . literally! The fourth dimension is all around us, on top of us, and if you know how to do it, you can go there and see the world differently. Unfortunately, you can also get lost in the scary 4-D world. Oh, guess what happens to her? Yeah.

I loved that the main character was no model citizen--she manipulated her neighbor and had crap values sometimes, and, ya know, almost really screwed lots of things up. I also liked the depiction of 4-space and the descriptions of how things would look if you only had three dimensions to your body but were forced to deal with a "fourth" dimension. Even though some of the science kinda doesn't make sense really, I thought it was a really intriguing concept.

After reading this book I really wanted ketchup to taste like pudding. You'll see why if you read it.

[Jamie Dacyczyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I vaguely remember reading in middle school, and something about it stuck with me through the years. I finally googled some of the plot points in order to figure out what the title was. As I read it this time around, I realized that I don't think I ever finished it as a kid. The beginning was very familiar, but almost nothing from the last 2/3rds of the book rang a bell. I wonder if that's why the book stuck with me....I probably started reading it, but had to return the book to the library for some reason, and so I never knew how it finished.

Reading it now was strange. I think the target age audience might enjoy this more than I did. It explores the concept of 4-D space (versus then 3-dimensional world we live in) and the concept of other dimensions beyond that. Although the title and some cover art editions try to make this sound like it's about a boy, the protagonist is a girl. She meets a boy who can move into the 4-D world above our world, and she manipulates him into taking her there. That's when things just start to get really weird and I sort of lose the plot. I have a hard time feeling invested when the characters are in a world that is literally imaginable; our brains operate on 3D, so to imagine a 4th dimension is kind of impossible. Still, younger readers (and older ones) who enjoy strange sci-fi with bizarre creatures and mind-bending concepts will be sure to like this book.

[Grace W · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is trippy and fun in the way that I can totally see middle schoolers being obsessed with. It is very of its time which, in this case, was my time. I enjoyed this, though I wonder how a middle school aged kid would like it now.....

[Konrad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally read this in middle school and revisited it while I’m experiencing a lot of millennial nostalgia. William Sleator was my favorite author in middle school and I devoured Interstellar Pig , Parasite Pig , House of Stairs , The Duplicate , and Singularity .

I don’t have a particularly strong memory of this book, and I can see why I didn’t read it multiple times like other Sleator books. This book focuses so much on how other dimensions physically look that it seemed to replace the central story in parts. There was a lot of focus on “ana” and “kata”, two directions people here in the 3D dimension don’t have.

I’m glad I read this so that I can check it off my list, but this isn’t a good book and I wouldn’t revisit it again.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember what reminded me of William Sleator recently, but I remembered reading Interstellar Pig and enjoying Singularity a lot, so I thought I'd see what I could find of his almost 30 years later. This one is quite good! My oldest son enjoyed it, and the next one was stealing it from me after I started it so he could read it faster, if that tells you anything about how much fun it is.

The story is one of those where the central idea is extremely interesting, and the good news is Sleator really carries it in the logical directions, and even further a bit. I always appreciate a good idea fully explored, and the supporting elements of the story are also well done: the characters are believable people and the setting is consistent. I liked that the characters, even the main ones, can be mean-spirited and selfish kids and its good to see some lessons learned from the experience. Also, bonus points for including a reference to Interstellar Pig and the dedication to Sleator's brother, who turns out to be a computer scientist like myself :). Apparently this story arose from a number of discussions between them.

It's targeted for kids, but I'd recommend this for anyone who enjoys science fiction written in a more classic style with an interesting idea that is well-explored.

[John Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Sleator always does a wonderful job of fusing doctorate level ideas of physics into pieces of literature that can be taken in by teen readers, for whom he primarily writes. This book can be read as purely science-fiction, or as a series of thought experiments. Either way, a good read indeed.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't even count how many times I reread this as a kid, and I bought it used a few years ago when I stumbled across it at a library sale. This is such a great book for kids who have flexible minds, to be introduced to dimensional changes and other sci-fi themes. Based on the stickers still on the spine, the library I got this from had it shelved in mystery, which makes no sense to me, but ok.

[Franzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recalled this from my childhood and thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it with my kid now.

[Davidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book is over "The boy who reversed himself" by William Sleator. The setting took place in the fourth dimension for most of the book. The main characters are Laura, Omar, and another kid named Pete. I found the book because when i was looking at the cover of the book it was just really appealing to me so i picked it up and just started reading it.

The plot was to figure out how she could get to four space and learn how to do things there that way if she practiced enough she could get Pete to like her. The conflict was when she finally figured out how to get her and Pete to four space they got lost and was discovered by two four space monsters and was put in a cage so they couldn't get away. Laura and Pete thought for sure they would never be able to get back home until Laura had a plan because she found out that Omar was watching them from a different dimension.

The book ended really well in my opinion. They worked things out with the guardians over all the dimensions and the guardians decided to let them live even though if you got caught in another dimension you had to die. The book was good all the way to the end really.

My personal opinion on the book was that really it was a great book. The type of readers that might like this book is the ones that like sci-fi or fantasy. I would highly recommend this book to people who like those kinds of books.

[Suzanne Estévez · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed! I first heard about this book a long time ago when I was in middle school. A friend told me of this book about the fourth dimension. I borrowed it briefly, and read the first few chapters and was hooked by the whole ‘entering into the locker, ketchup tasting like chocolate’ bit. But I had to return the book and never got to finish it. For years I’ve thought about this book and wanted to find it so I could finish it (I’m nearly 40). Finally I did a google search, found it and bought it online. I just didn’t expect the book to progress the way it did. I wanted more of the girl exploring her own life through the fourth dimension; dipping into locked rooms, being invisible to the 3 dimensional world, discovering the advantages of this new talent. I did not expect blobby monsters keeping her in a cage to dominate so many chapters. I just couldn’t get my head around this. Perhaps I’m being too critical. It’s not a book aimed for adults. But I can’t help but think I would have had the same opinion back in middle school.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

So fun fact: I tried to read this book way back in the early 2000s when I was in middle school, but it was too difficult for me to understand at that time, so I just took it back to the library. I had forgotten the title, but some sleuthing on Google helped me track it down, so I decided that I would buy it and finish what I started 20 years ago. Now I understand why I couldn't get into it back then, because boy is this book weird.

It starts off innocent enough, but once the main character (Laura) and her boyfriend (Pete) get trapped in the fourth dimension (not a spoiler, it's on the back of the book), things become very complicated. The writing style was quite odd at times, especially when describing their environment. I think the author had an image in his mind at what this place was supposed to look like, but had trouble putting into words, so he just did his best. Honestly, it confused me as much now as it did back in middle school.

Overall, I'm glad that I completed a 20 year quest to read this book, but in the end, I don't think I was missing out on anything.

[Bob Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was maybe 10-12. I remember the connection between Omar and Laura - the way their relationship developed after her first choice of Pete (high on physical attractiveness, low on character) went sour. It was also, at the time and at my age, something akin to hard sci-fi. My mind worked hard to grasp the concept of higher and lower spatial dimensions, and I felt like the book walked me through it really well. I will probably read again and maybe suggest it for my own kids.

[Zu Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like strange and interesting stories?

Do you want something light and fast but still deep?

Read william sleator books today! They have the kind of power to grip you in and make you think, introduce to bizarre worlds. I read this over a decade ago and I still think about this story and this world.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a big fan of William Sleator back when I was 11-12. Something on twitter reminded me of him the other day so I decided to reread some of his books. Revisiting them now, they are definitely aimed at kids, with pretty simple plots and limited characterization. But they are very quick reads, still entertaining, and a little creepy.

[Princessjay · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first science fiction novels I read as a child, and one of the most thought-out, logical (nothing jarring jumps out at you while during) and interesting ways to think about inter-dimension travel and multi-dimension world systems.

[Atari Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple story about friendship and belonging, within a framework of some pretty interesting and thought-provoking science. Great for both boys and girls, and will stimulate some good discussions afterwards.

[Blake Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as well written or riveting as House of Stairs or Singularity, but once again Sleator proves he had brilliant imagination and got that down on paper. His sci-fi is unique and still holds up after years and years. I can't wait to try and introduce his work to teenagers next year!

[Addie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book several times as a youth & loved it! Reading it again as an adult made me smile more for sentimental reasons than for the story line. But it was still fun to read. :)

[Jodie Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read this book in years, but growing up I read it over and over again and it was one of my favorites. I look forward to my daughter being old enough to read it and understand it soon.

[Logan Roden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept was fantastic and mind-boggling. The characters were really dumb though... It's still worth the read to explore the fourth dimension, but don't expect to love the characters.

[Chris Highonthehill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book not just for kids

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the writing and characters are a little clunky and annoying, the concept behind this story is fantastically compelling. A fun read that has stuck with me for decades.

[Sarah Lawton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a kid but it stuck with me forever. I listen to a lot of podcasts on the paranormal that often comment on the possibility of alternate dimensions and I always think back to this book.

[Amy Schertz]

I read this as a young teen. It's one that stuck with me, and I think it's part of what made me want to be a physicist.

[Meagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, the ending turned out better than I expected. Good characterization, great concept. Enjoyable read after about halfway through.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recall reading this and being very, "...ok, sure" about the concept of fourth- (and fifth-!)dimensional travel, and it wasn't until this video that I could more easily imagine such a thing. I feel like the story is just a bit inaccurate, then, as we are at LEAST fourth-dimensional beings, but I suppose there are only so many ways to describe something indescribable (the book doesn't have any illustrations, because good luck finding an artist who gets it, that's going to be a bit of a search!).

I liked the general plot, however. It's interesting having the idea of a whole other world (or more!) just outside our perception, if ONLY we knew how to get there! At the same time, that's a bit freaky, because what happens when you don't know how to get back?

The main thing that I didn't get was how "reversing" oneself wouldn't be fatal upon returning (breathing reversed air!) or how it affects things like taste buds the way it happens in the story (everything tastes horrid except ketchup tastes like the most amazing chocolate or other). I guess there need to be SOME artistic licenses taken, or there's no story!

Fun read, implausible.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One day, Laura found a note in her locker that was written in mirror writing, but she knew that only she knew the password and the door has not been tampered with either. She soon found out Omar, the new kid was helping her retrieve her things, and she asked Omar how, and Omar showed her. Omar took Laura into the fourth dimension, and there they saw a scary fourth dimension creature, and when they went back, Laura was reversed. Laura went to Omar’s place again and begged him to take her again to become unreversed, and when Oma did it, Laura was normal again. Over some time, Laura took her boyfriend, Pete, into the fourth dimension, but they got caught by Gigigi and Ramoom, the four space creatures. Gigigi tried to protect them, but Ramoom tried to make them tell him where they came from, so he could have full control over the humans, but Pete and Laura in the end found the guardians and Omar, and they saved them together. I enjoyed this book because it tells us a little bit of science and a term of math for 4D shapes. It also has very exciting adventures and funny parts for misunderstanding.

[Benn Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Boy Who Reversed Himself" is the third book by William Sleator I've read. The other two were "House of Stairs" and "Marco's Millions". Of the three, TBWRH is the second best of Sleator's books I've read. That's not saying much. "House of Stairs" was a minor classic featuring an interesting concept that was well executed and characters that were fascinating to follow. TBWRH is well-written and does hold one's attention, but elements of it call to mind L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and Abbott's "Flatland". It also hurts that Sleator is unable to delineate how the fourth dimension (or "4 Space" as it's called in the book) better. That is, he has trouble describing how 4 Space looks. Understandable given the subject matter. But terms like "kata" and "ana" could have been explained better.

Still, "The Boy Who Reversed Himself" is an entertaining read and one I'd probably like better if I'd've encountered it at a younger age.