The Twinning Project by Robert Lipsyte - OPTIONAL

Lipsyte, Robert The Twinning Project, 269 pgs, Clarion Books, 2012. $16.99. Language: PG (2 swears) Mature Content: G; Violence: PG. 

Tom is a rebel; he gets revenge on the bullies especially other people’s bullies and he’s very smart. But he’s constantly getting kicked out of school, and this is his last chance, but he doesn’t want to change.  His only friend is his “imaginary” twin brother who he believes lives on another planet exactly like Earth. Tom’s brother Eddie is his mirror, where Tom fights back, Eddie makes a friend; Tom plays the violin, Eddie is athletic.  But when it turns out that Eddie isn’t imaginary, and the scientists need the boys to trade worlds to save the 2 Earths, Tom, Eddie and their friends embark on an adventure.  

This novel about time travel and aliens was too strange even for Science Fiction.  While the premise offered promise, character development was shallow, the plot was thin and not very exciting.  

MS OPTIONAL Lisa Librarian