Small Eternities (Withern Rise)

Shifting from one eternity to the next, Alaric and Naia have to find a way to outsmart death while also trying to gain control of their lives that seem to become more purposeless with each passing day.

Grade 8 Up–A Crack in the Line (HarperCollins, 2004), the first book in this trilogy, introduced Alaric and Naia Underwood, 16-year-olds who share the same surname, birthday, and residence as well as similar physical characteristics, yet live in separate, distinct, parallel realities. They were unaware of one anothers existence until they passed through a portal and began living the others life. This second title finds the teens still caught in the wrong realities, but they now are repeatedly transported to yet another reality in the mid-1940s, when their family home is inhabited by the Underwoods of two generations past. In this reality, they witness their grandfather and his siblings as children, and Alaric is presented with the opportunity to prevent his great-uncles untimely death. The small eternities are closed segments of time in history that continue on forever, unchanging. Throughout the book, Alaric, Naia, and the mysterious vagrant Aldous make numerous forays into an assortment of small eternities, each time witnessing an alternative reality. In a similar vein of William Sleators The Last Universe (Abrams, 2005), this thought-provoking novel explores the uncertainty of destiny and chance and its impact upon peoples lives. The myriad realities result in a somewhat convoluted story line, and readers may find themselves flipping back through the pages in order to clarify details or events. However, the payoff is well worth the effort in this complex story of metaphysics and fate.–Debbie Lewis ODonnell, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL
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Gr. 9-12. Lawrence's follow-up to A Crack in the Line (2004) picks up the story four months after Alaric and Naia Underwood switch places and become trapped in their parallel realities, as summer rains flood the land surrounding their home, Withern Rise. Alaric, now living in Naia's world, where his mother survived the train wreck, is ecstatic to have her back. Naia, in Alaric's sad reality, is struggling with grief over her mother's death. Sometimes together and sometime apart, the teens travel to alternate times in the history of Withern Rise, and in 1945, they meet their relative Aldous Underwood as a young boy, just days before his death. Tension mounts as Alaric realizes his intrusion into this "small eternity" of time causes Aldous' death, and he tries to make amends. Clues from the first volume surface here, and like A Crack, this book has a shocking ending that will leave series fans breathlessly waiting for the next, and final, volume. Complex and original, this is best suited to patient, sophisticated teen readers; adults may like it as well. Cindy Dobrez
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