by William Sleator
Five orphaned teens of widely differing personalities find themselves unwillingly involved in a behavioral experiment. They\’re all placed in a House of Stairs– an environment made up of staircases, small landings, occasional bridges- no walls, no floor, no place to feel safe. There\’s a small computer that flashes colors and dispenses food- but only in response to certain actions. Which they have to decipher by guesswork- and the results become more and more bizarre, until the kids are barely holding onto their sanity. I read this book a long time ago as a teen and it really made an impression on me. The characters are a bit flat and stereotypical, but the dynamics of their interactions and the different ways they respond to the challenges they face make it an interesting read. It really gave me the shivers back then, but now I want to read it just to pick apart what made some of the kids come out of it okay, and the others drive themselves to disintegration.
Rating: 3/5 …….. 166 pages, 1974
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