A Crack in the Line

Title - A Crack in the Line
Author - Michael Lawrence
ISBN - 0060724781
Publication Date - 2004

Plot - Alaric is a teenage boy trying to recover from the death of his mother two years earlier.  As he has lived with his father since that time in mostly a joyless world, Alaric's world seems to be crumbling around him.  This is until he comes back to the home that was his family home and touches an item that seems to transport him to another world: a world rich and bright and colorful; a world that seems very familiar to him.
In this world we are introduced to the character of Naia.  When Alaric meets Naia, they discover that they look very familiar to one another.  They are practically identical. 

As they explore their situations further, they come to realize that there is something a bit more amazingly similar than their looks.  The houses they are living in look the same, except one being colorful and the other being colorless.  Both of them had mothers with near death experiences: although Alaric's mother died and Naia's lived.  They start to question the whole idea of the possible alternate universe.  And they both find they have an item that can transport them back and forth between the worlds that seems to be identical.  They begin to puzzle the mystery out together of the two worlds, and how their two worlds work.  Everything seems to be going well for them until the item that is transporting the two breaks.  And now each of them are trapped in the other one's world.

Critical Review-  This is a fascinating story of two different kids, whose lives seem to be mirroring one another in so many different ways, and they are thrust together by a kind of fate.  What the reader ends up finding is a twist on the nature of reality.  Is one bound together by all of the different ways that reality could change.  And if one little thing changed in a reality, how much of an impact would that have on any given reality?  Michael Lawrence creates this fascinating world where anything is possible, and everything has an infinity impact on everything else.  As a reader we get to explore the interesting intricate possibilities of both of these juxtaposed worlds.  And just at the moment the reader is getting content with those worlds, a brilliant twist is thrown in.  What happens when these two people whose lives are so different, and yet so similar, are thrust into the other world for good.  It will be interesting to see where Lawrence takes the reader from there.

Reader's Annotation-  What would you do if you ran into a person whose life so mysteriously mirrored your own? And what if you found out that person was from a different reality?  What would you do if you found your mother, who was dead, was alive in this other reality?  Would you fight to stay in this new reality, opposing this other person?  Lawrence explores every possibility in A Crack in the Line.

About the Author- Michael Lawrence is an English writer, born and raised in different sections of the country. He eventually would go to school for art and graphic design.  Despite this he had a love for writing and wanted to be a writer since he was a teenager.  The difficulty he found was in trying to make money in doing it.  As a result, he has had his hand in many different artistic endeavors that include photography, painting and sculpting. It took him about 40 years, according to Lawrence himself, to finally be able to earn a living doing the one thing that he does enjoy, writing.

Genre- Fantasy, Science Fiction

Curriculum Ties - Discussion of probabilities based upon different realities. - Mathematics
Discuss the nature of reality - philosophy

Booktalking Ideas - Have the kids discuss what they would have done if they were Alaric.  What reality would they choose to belong to, the one where there mother was still living, or the one in which their mother had passed?

Reading Level/Interest Age - Grade 9+

Challenge Issues -None

Why Included - I grew up a science fiction and fantasy fan.  Anything that deals with alternate realities and all of the possibilities has always grabbed my attention.