This is a trade paperback that I found on the shelf and there is no date of purchase. I read about the book and author online and decided to give it a shot. The author is a widely known writer of Young Adult Novels and although this one was not considered his best, it is a favorite. Sleator was gay man born in the US, but lived, at his death, in a small village in Thailand near the Cambodian border. He died of complications due to alcoholism.
Author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sleator
From Amazon-
"Identical twins Barry and Harry Krasner are house-sitting at their great-uncle's Midwest farm. It's peaceful at first, but soon they realize there's something about the farmhouse that makes locals stay far away. The twins are sure that the locked shed out back is their reason why – but what they find there is more shocking than anything they could have imagined".
Notes:
Singularity is a Black Hole. This is when a star collapses upon itself and the gravity becomes so strong that time is slowed or dilated.
Two brothers go to the home of a recently deceased uncle to take care of the home that the family has inherited. Their parents are in California on a trip that they could not cancel. In the backyard of the house is an out-building referred to as a 'play house'. This masks an entry to another galaxy and is the 'singularity'.
Harry/Barry 16 year old twins
Barry- domineering, mean
Harry- reflective, peacemaker
Novel is set in fictional, Sushan, Illinois
Lucy- a young girl, their age, that the meet in Sushan.
Fred- dog, close to Harry, who is killed in the playhouse.
Barry is tired of being a twin and resents the fact that he is not a real individual. Singular? He threatens to enter the playhouse to become older, but Harry is the one who does it.
Time moves incredibly fast in the playhouse. Three minutes in the playhouse- a year has passed in the outside world. But it seems like a year inside the playhouse.
Harry brings books and develops an exercise and meditation regime in the playhouse. He comes out much more mature and physically fit.
There is a monster/robot that is coming thru the portal or black hole. This device is being sent from the other side to destroy the singularity. No explanation is given, but it's probably that the beings on the other side realize that nothing positive can come from this gateway. It destroys the black hole, and then eats itself.
An interesting read, and I'd give the author another shot (if the library carries some of his other works). I checked the catalog, and the library has SINGULARITY only.
It read the entire book in two settings.
Amazon page with customer reviews-
https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-William-Sleator/dp/0140375988
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