About the book: Fin’s father wrote the book called the Lazarus Door. Fin feels like he is trapped inside the story lines. One of the alien angels resembles him, with achromatic eyes, a scare up his back, and epilepsy. Fin was smashed by a dead horse when he was younger that broke his back and killed his mother. He thinks of time as passing in miles, each second is 20,000 miles. His best friend is Cade Hernandez. Cade is able to get Fin to do almost anything. Fin has seizures that come on out of nowhere. He is frustrated by the knackery of life. The void were all dead atoms go. He meets Julia Bishop and falls in love. He had never kissed a girl before her. Fin wants to break free of the hold his dad’s book has on him. He is tired of always being just fine and wants to be able to be real. Julia has to move away which crushes Fin. He goes on the road trip to Oklahoma with his best friend Cade just to get away from his life. On the trip the boys are put in a position to risk their lives to save another. The experience helps Fin to break free from the hold of the Lazarus Door and gives him strength to start making decisions for himself.
Readers Response: Andrew Smith twists a story of beauty with 100 Sideways Miles. He uses great descriptive language to help the read feel like they are experiencing Fin's life. He also intertwines the philosophy of time and space with Fin's thinking of seconds as miles and the knackery of space. When suggesting this book to YA take into consideration their mental age. A student who is at the abstract thinking stage will be able to fully follow this plot and ponder along side Fin.
Author Interview:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/an-interview-with-ya-author-andrew-smith/
Andrew Smith's website:
http://www.authorandrewsmith.com/Author_Andrew_Smith/Home.html
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