Rebecca Stead's first science fiction novel since her Newbery Medal-winning When You Reach Me is the absorbing, earnest The Experiment, about an alien child whose life is wholly focused on fitting in on Earth--until he grows a tail.
Sixth-grader Nathan is from the planet Kast but was born in New York. His parents, who were raised on the trip from Kast to Earth, learned subjects like "Earth Fauna" and "Human Gestures and Body Language" from Hester, the captain and caretaker of the Wagon, the Kast spaceship. Now, the entire family is on a mission to fit in. But when they take their first-ever family vacation, Nathan does something unthinkable: he grows a tail. He didn't do it on purpose, and he doesn't think he's "a failure," but the orange and black tail ("like a tiger") begs to differ. When Hester demands Nathan be brought to the Wagon for inspection, the boy is terrified. Are his parents in trouble? Has he ruined the experiment?
Like all of Stead's work, The Experiment is expertly plotted. Short chapters primarily told from Nathan's point of view swiftly move the reader through every aspect of a young alien's life on Earth, including how his understanding of self grows and changes. Occasional chapters from other characters--such as Nathan's cat, Toto, who is "enhanced... with alien DNA"--add affecting layers to an already heartfelt middle-grade work. Stead keeps The Experiment light, tidy, and approachable, offering a novel that can be enjoyed by science fiction and adventure readers alike. --Siân Gaetano, children's and YA editor, Shelf Awareness