Much of Sleator's work has focused on remarkable events occurring in mundane places such as home and school. For instance, in The Spirit House, a Thai spirit invades a suburban American home that is similar to Peter's. Part of the appeal of the book is the premise that strange and mysterious adventures may occur at home, right in the middle of a familiar world. In The Boxes (see separate entry in Volume 10) Annie's big house is a bit unusual, but the amazing events she experiences occur mostly in her bedroom closet and the basement, ordinary places. Sometimes, Sleator takes his characters out of the mundane world and places them in isolation, making them outsiders in a world they do not understand. His 1974 novel House of Stairs (see separate entry in Volume 4) takes this to extremes by placing the characters in a house that would be unfamiliar...