Planesrunner

Fourteen-year-old Everett Singh discovers that parallel worlds are not so theoretical after all when his physicist father is kidnapped from a London street and Everett is thrown into a pandimensional multiverse conspiracy. On E3, an electric steampunk parallel world, Everett searches for his father while evading the authorities with the help of Sen Sixsmyth, an Airish girl. As in Burgess' A Clockwork Orange (1962), a slightly altered language (a glossary is included) gives the story an off-kilter and timeless feel, and big world issues including prejudice in several forms are filtered through the characters' struggles. The novel does this with subtle humor, paying homage to several classic sf tropes, including the bigger-on-the-inside concept most commonly associated with Doctor Who. Compelling characters populate this richly imagined, complex parallel world in award-winning McDonald's debut young-adult novel, the first in the Everness series. The fast-paced, action-filled plot and cliffhanger ending will leave readers eagerly awaiting Everett's next adventure.--Osborne, Charli Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this first YA novel from noted SF writer McDonald (The Dervish House), 14-year-old Everett Singh is still dealing with his parents' divorce when his quantum physicist father is kidnapped, and both the police and Everett's father's boss are acting strangely. Then Everett is emailed a complex computer program, the Infundibulum, which allows Everett, no slouch at math himself, to map out an infinite number of alternate worlds. Everett learns that his father was kidnapped because the governments of the so-called Ten Known Worlds want the Infundibulum for themselves. Soon he winds up in an alternate "electropunk" England in which sophisticated dirigibles rule the skies; there he meets Sen, the pixyish pilot of the Everness, who initially attempts to steal his computer, but becomes a close ally. Athletic, brilliant, and always ahead of the game, Everett is too perfect, but it doesn't detract from the book's fun. McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner. Ages 12-up. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

After he unlocks a map of all the parallel worlds in the universe, Everett Singh follows his kidnapped father to an alternate "electropunk" London. There, he meets Sen, a street-smart teen girl, and joins the crew of the airship Everness. McDonald's gorgeous world-building and fast-paced plot will thrill fans of steampunk and science fiction. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(Science fiction. 12-16)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Fourteen-year-old Everett Singh discovers that parallel worlds are not so theoretical after all when his physicist father is kidnapped from a London street and Everett is thrown into a pandimensional multiverse conspiracy. On E3, an electric steampunk parallel world, Everett searches for his father while evading the authorities with the help of Sen Sixsmyth, an Airish girl. As in Burgess' A Clockwork Orange (1962), a slightly altered language (a glossary is included) gives the story an off-kilter and timeless feel, and big world issues—including prejudice in several forms—are filtered through the characters' struggles. The novel does this with subtle humor, paying homage to several classic sf tropes, including the bigger-on-the-inside concept most commonly associated with Doctor Who. Compelling characters populate this richly imagined, complex parallel world in award-winning McDonald's debut young-adult novel, the first in the Everness series. The fast-paced, action-filled plot and cliffhanger ending will leave readers eagerly awaiting Everett's next adventure. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

In this first YA novel from noted SF writer McDonald (The Dervish House), 14-year-old Everett Singh is still dealing with his parents' divorce when his quantum physicist father is kidnapped, and both the police and Everett's father's boss are acting strangely. Then Everett is emailed a complex computer program, the Infundibulum, which allows Everett, no slouch at math himself, to map out an infinite number of alternate worlds. Everett learns that his father was kidnapped because the governments of the so-called Ten Known Worlds want the Infundibulum for themselves. Soon he winds up in an alternate "electropunk" England in which sophisticated dirigibles rule the skies; there he meets Sen, the pixyish pilot of the Everness, who initially attempts to steal his computer, but becomes a close ally. Athletic, brilliant, and always ahead of the game, Everett is too perfect, but it doesn't detract from the book's fun. McDonald writes with scientific and literary sophistication, as well as a wicked sense of humor. Add nonstop action, eccentric characters, and expert universe building, and this first volume of the Everness series is a winner. Ages 12–up. (Dec.)