The Quantum July

March 1, 2008
Gr 6-8-This book has all the tendencies and trappings of a first novel. Danny Parsons is a seventh-grade dreamer who is always imagining a different, more adventurous life than the one he's living. With the help of his sister, Bridget, he discovers that he has access to and can manipulate the quantum world. As the situation grows increasingly chaotic, he has to make a choice between having the father he's always wantedand losing Bridget in the processor saving his sister and coming to terms with the father he has. He learns that difficult decisions need to be made to move forward and that every choice has consequences and new possibilities. This story could have appeal for readers who feel powerless to alter the course of their own lives. However, it tries to be too many things all at once and, in the process, does not do any one thing very well. Science fiction fans will most likely wish for more science (and the science that is there is fuzzy), and readers who prefer character-driven stories will be disappointed in the lack of information about these complex figures. There isn't enough action to make this a strong plot-driven novel, and the author throws in some Eastern mysticism for good measure ("Be the water"). Not an essential purchase."Laura Lutz, Queens Borough Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2007
At 13, Danny Parsons is a dreamervividly, but passively, imagining exciting alternative lives. His brilliant younger sister, Bridget, who is fascinated by quantum theory, suspects Dannys imagination is more powerful than he realizes. And, sure enough, his dream and real worlds start coming together with potentially devastatingconsequences. Kings first novel, an ambitious attempt to fuse physics and Eastern religion, will leave some readers scratching their heads; others will be turned off by his intense focus on Dannys parents troubled marriage. And yet, the boys longings for a better life and a better father are moving, while the complexities of the choices he must make and the mind-expanding speculative aspects of the novel will challenge and engage readers imaginations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)