All Fred wanted to do was retrieve the ball that his dog Casey loved to chase ter all, now that Casey is dead, it's the only link to his beloved pet that Fred has. When the ball lands in a sewer, Fred does not hesitate to head down. Somehow, the world is quite different when Fred climbs out. He is in an parallel world where Casey is still alive, and his mother and sister live in a house exactly like the one he knows. But then there's Freddie, an alternate-world version of Fred. Who would ever believe this is possible? This novel explores life and loss from an unusual perspective; in Freddie's world, loss is simply accepted as someone's time coming to an end. What seems on the surface a fantasy is actually a philosophical examination of how best to deal with loss, done with a subtle hand. Tie this to Neal Shusterman's Downsiders (1999) and Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Overlander (2003).

Sixth grader Fred discovers a portal to an upside-down, parallel world where dead dogs and people are alive and dragons roam. This other world helps Fred and his sister process their grief over the loss of their dog as well as--revealed much into the book--their father's death. Fred's moving first-person narrative and well-developed characters compensate for unbelievable plot points and a dawdling pace.

Gr 5-8 Fred's dog Casey died two months ago, and the Toronto sixth grader has been carrying around Casey's tennis ball ever since. Fred drops the ball one day, and it rolls through a sewer grate. When he jumps in to retrieve it, he discovers that Casey is alive and ready to play on the other side. At first, the upside-down world seems almost the same as the one left behind, with upside-down Fred (called Freddie on this side of the sewer) going to the same school with the same students. Freddie and Fred live in identical houses, and each has an older sister named Izzy. Everyone seems happier than Fred remembers. Soon, however, dragons and newfound athletic powers make Fred suspect that there is more to discover in this alternate reality. When Fred's Izzy follows him through the sewer to the upside-down world, his unnamed but growing feelings of dread and discomfort creep into this idyllic parallel reality and we discover that Casey isn't the only loved one Fred has recently lost. What initially appears to be a story about the struggle to accept the death of a beloved pet slowly reveals itself to be a sad, sweet, and unexpectedly complex examination of the grieving process, the balance between choice and inevitability, and the power of belief and remembrance. VERDICT A thought-provoking and ultimately hopeful work. Fred's authentic voice provides a balm to those struggling to understand loss and inspires all to view the world with fresh eyes. Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH