Interstellar Pig by William Sleator
Without a recommend from my sister, who's recommendations I treasure, I might not have picked up this book; the title sounds kind of crazy, right? But the book is wonderful. First she had me read "House of Stairs" (See review) by the same author, now this, and I'm glad I did.
This book is about a kid named Barney who is having a boring vacation when 3 strange perfect-seeming neighbors move in next door with an odd obsession with a game called "Interstellar Pig." But the more time he spends with them, he begins to wonder if there might be more to his neighbors and if their game is really just a game.
This book is well thought out from the start with all the details being important in some way. The intrigue of discovering exactly what is happening draws you on as the reader, but also watching the character development of the character of Barney over the course of the story. The contrast of him against the other characters is revealing. And then, of course, the whole idea of the book makes you think. This book isn't quite as good as "House of Stairs," but I can still recommend it as a book you won't soon forget.
As a side note, I think that's something interesting about smaller books (this is under 200 pages), they can still have as much or more of an impact than many books much longer than them. It reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite books of all time "The Phantom Tollbooth": "people use as many words as they can and think themselves very wise for doing so.... always remember that while it is wrong to use too few, it is often far worse to use too many."
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