Journey to the Parallels

Twelve-year-old Amber has the ordinary problems of a seventh grader: strained friendships, an annoying younger brother, and, ugh, why can’t her eccentric, single mother just act normal for once? When that wish comes true, Amber suspects it’s not just her mother’s behavior that’s changed, but her actual mother. So where did her real mother go? Amber puts her best investigative efforts to work and discovers that one of her mother’s silly claims—that they can view a parallel world in the window of an old industrial building—isn’t so silly after all.

Amber’s search takes her and her younger brother through the window and into a world that, like their mother, seems familiar on the surface but isn’t quite right. There’s the surveillance for one thing. And so many rules and regulations, especially for families with single mothers. And since when don’t girls play sports? Amber does her best to adjust to this alternate reality. At least her friends like her again and the school work is so easy. Plus, her mother lets them eat dessert and tries to fit in. However, as their life in the parallel world grows increasingly unstable, Amber realizes that avoiding action isn’t an option. But how in the world, real or parallel, will they get home?

Through this “gutsy and relatable young heroine,” Amber reminds us that everyone, even mathematically-challenged tweens with friend and family issues, has within them the power to effect change.