When the trio invites Barney to join them in an unusual board game, �Instellar Pig,� he is flattered and eagerly accepts. It doesn�t take him long to realize, however, that the board game is like none he has ever seen before, and that his companions are not what they seem. When the lights go out during an electrical storm, Barney realizes that he is living the game, which becomes a contest of survival with the fate of all mankind at stake.
Sleator�s characters possess �textbook� science fiction traits. The Horn Book Guide (September 1, 1996) says that �The fantastical tale contains some of Sleator's most inventive characters.� Barney is a slightly nerdy sixteen-year-old, who stays indoors while his parents frolic on the beach, and is flattered by the attentions of the three �cool� adults renting the cottage next door. �They seemed exotic . . and strangely enough, they really did seem interested in me.� (p. 15) Before the crisis point in the story, he acts like a frightened child when he sees what looks like a giant spider outside his window. �I was back under the sheet, clutching the pillow.� (p. 111) Less than 24 hours later, however, he is thrust into a violent death struggle, which could mean the end of the world if he fails. He manages to overcome his fear and rises to the super-human challenge.
The antagonists, aliens from another world, appear to be human at first, although Sleator gives hints that they possess otherworldly qualities. �Their skin had a purplish cast in the fading light� (p. 11) and they all had lavender eyes. Their unfamiliarity with the nuances of the English language are apparent, also, and Barney has a hard time placing their accent. It is only when the final conflict is inevitable that they finally drop their disguises.
The suspense in the plot builds, even while the reader is unsure what the three strangers are after. They have ominous characteristics, and Barney�s well-being around them becomes more and more uncertain. The suspense builds to a crescendo, and when the lights go out during the electrical storm, Barney crosses from the real world into the fantasy world where he faces a life and death struggle. After the crisis has passed, Barney�s return to normal is characterized by the mundane task he faces � sweeping sand out of the beach house. Clearly, though, he is not the same young man he was before, whining about yet another summer vacation on the beach with his parents. His ordeal has given him a new appreciation for the ordinary: �The others were so vicious that they made even the human race look good.� (p. 193)
Interstellar Pig is a good cross-over book, with a sympathetic protagonist, that will appeal to a wide range of ages. It is a winning combination of humor, suspense, adventure, and an almost-believable struggle for mankind. �Sleator's taut tale will undoubtedly raise reader's hackles and incite nervous laughs.� (Publishers Weekly, April 25, 1986)
Awards
Young Readers Choice Award (Nominee)
ALA Notable Book
Related Website
William Sleator Links: http://www.tycho.org/sleator.shtml
Source
Books in Print [database online]. Available from http://www.booksinprint.com. Accessed 19 October 2004.
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY