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Marco's Millions — William Sleator Published by Puffin Books, 2002 This book is about a boy named Marco and his sister named Lilly. Marco and Lilly's parents think that Lilly has a mental problem, but really she doesn't. She just sees everything differently. One day she leads Marco into the basement and tells him that she sees a hole in the wall. Marco steps through and sees a whole different world with different creatures. These creatures tell him to bring his sister back next time. Marco is frightened by this and tells Lilly never to go in there. One of the times when Marco goes into the other world, the creatures say that they need his help or else their world and Marco's world will be destroyed. Marco finally agrees. He has to go through all these little challenges to save the worlds. He gets through all the challenges successfully, and when he is jolted to the present (since time goes slower so he would stay a lot younger), he's startled by what has happened to his family. If you want to know what happened to his family you will have to read the book. Marco is the main character and a lot happens to him. He has to overcome his fears enough so he can save the worlds. He also has to lie to his parents saying that he is going on a trip with his friend, but really he is going to the other world. He also has to do a lot of problem solving to get through his challenges. This story takes place in other worlds/dimensions, and in Marco's basement. This story happens throughout years in the human world and days in the creature's world. I liked this book because it has a lot of mystery and a lot of action. For example, at one point in the book, Marco is running out of a dimension and he has to get through a hole to get back to the creature world. Just before he reaches the hole, the author changes the subject so you don't find out right away. At another point in the story, Marco has to keep his backpack away from people when he is in one of the dimensions, and people are chasing him. He has to run away from all of them and escape from that dimension because if he doesn't, then one of the people will get into his backpack and steal his special box that controls gravity. I liked the main character because he isn't afraid to try things, and he also cares about his sister so much that he risks his life to protect her. My favorite part in the book is when Marco goes through the black hole. In the black hole, there are pictures of different lands. If he wants to, he can jump through them, and he would be in that land. I think the author's main idea is don't be afraid to do things that you're scared to do and to be adventurous. I learned that you shouldn't be scared to try things that might frighten you. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. —Kayla, Grade 6

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