The Experiment
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Nathan never understood what was ‘fun’ about secrets, probably because he’s always had to keep a very big one, even from his best friend, Victor. Although he appears to be a typical grade-six kid, Nathan learned at an early age that his family is from another planet, and he’s part of an experiment to work out how to behave like a human and blend in. But the experiment suddenly seems to be going wrong. Some of the other experimenters, including Nathan’s first crush, Izzy, are disappearing without a word.
After his family is called back to the mothership, Nathan begins to question everything he’s been taught to believe about who he is and why he’s on Earth. Can he, Victor and Izzy uncover the truth?
The Experiment is a fast-paced adventure—with aliens—that asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, whether it’s ever too late to change, and the importance of friendship.
Rebecca Stead is author of When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, First Light, Goodbye Stranger, Bob, The List of Things that Will Not Change, and The Lost Library. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Fiction and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Rebecca lives in New York.
‘A page-turner with striking characters and a satisfying puzzle at its heart.’ Kirkus on The Lost Library
‘This is a delightful read about the importance of books, libraries and how they can heal and bring people together, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.’ CBCA Reading Time on The Lost Library
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As part of a long-term exploration project, 11-year-old Nathan and his family—members of an alien species called Kast—are masquerading as humans in New York City. But when Nathan starts to unexpectedly grow a tail, and he and his family are summoned to their mother ship, the Wagon, he fears he'll go missing like several other Earth-side Kast children who failed to maintain cover—including his long-distance crush Izzy. Life on the Wagon is even worse than he expected. Upon arrival, he discovers it to be a place of inequity and deprivation, where Izzy and other disappeared children are forced into menial labor, while Nathan and his new tail are inexplicably celebrated as a success story and sent back to Earth. Suspecting the Wagon's leadership of hiding a dark secret, Nathan enlists his human best friend Victor to uncover the truth behind his people and their lifelong mission. In this twisty, thoughtful tale, Stead (The List of Things That Will Not Change) touches on themes of estrangement, assimilation, exploitation, and agency as Nathan's seeking independence for himself and his interstellar peers parallels contemporary challenges faced by immigrants in the U.S. The Kast are described as having "assumed all Earthly skin tones." Ages 8–12.
