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nancy@nancykeane.com
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Sleator,
William
HOUSE
OF STAIRS
New
York : Dutton, 1974
IL 5-8
RL 6.0
ISBN
0140345809
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| Peter
is a 16 year old living in an orphanage. One day he is called into the
main office and taken out blindfolded. He is brought to a place so strange
, that he can't understand it. There are only stairs with small landings
-- no rooms or hallways. Soon he is joined by 4 others who are also orphans
and who were also brought in blindfolded. The five teens wander the stairs
looking for a way out. On one landing, they find a small machine that gives
food but only when Blossom sticks out her tongue. The others must depend
on Blossom for food. After awhile, the machine stops responding to Blossom
and the group tries other ways to get food. They make up dances and the
machine responds. Each time the teens figure out how to get food, the machine
changes the rules. As the teens get frustrated, they start turning on each
other. The machine then demands more and more acts of anger and violence
before it will give food. As they realize what is happening, they must
decide if it is better to starve than become subhuman. This is a story
of science misused. |
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SUBJECTS:
Science fiction |
© 
Permission is granted for the
noncommercial duplication and use of this resource, provided it is substantially
unchanged from its present form and appropriate credit is given.
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