At first, Ash attributes the buzzing in his head to a concussion sustained during a football game. Slowly, he notices more things askew, such as blue stop signs that everyone considers normal. After another rough tackle on the field, Ash discovers that he is hopping from dimension to dimension each time he gets hit. At first, he marvels at how different his life is in these alternate realities. But when he travels to a reality where the civil rights movement never happened, the significance of his power comes into focus. He must learn to harness it to both right wrongs in other worlds and return to his own before he messes things up. The conceit behind Shusterman's latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author's usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: He's won the National Book Award, and he's at home on the New York Times best-seller list. The publisher's robust marketing campaign should catch the attention of any reader not already itching to get their hands on this.

When star defensive lineman Ash Bowman makes a bone-crunching tackle during a football game, he sustains a concussion that knocks him into a parallel world. The differences are subtle (stop signs are blue; football team colors have switched), but subsequent tackles yield much more drastic changes. After a concussion in that world, he enters one where he's a spoiled rich kid with a side job as a drug dealer. Then he gets knocked into a world where Brown v. Board of Education never happened, fundamentally altering white Ash's friendship with his best friend, who is Black. Still later, previously straight Ash finds himself in a romantic relationship with his male math tutor and dealing with the fallout when he comes out. And finally, he awakens as a female cheerleader dating the emotionally abusive star quarterback. It's a testament to Shusterman's storytelling powers that he is able to develop a cohesive narrative across these multiple shifts, exploring the subtle nuances of how they affect not only Ash but the entire supporting cast, though the novel falls somewhat short of the emotional heft the subject matter seems to demand. The device that ties it all together -- that Ash has become "the center of the universe" and must learn to control these shifts to return to his original reality -- is a bit tidy, but serves as a vehicle for provocative explorations of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Jonathan Hunt

A timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity.Ash Bowman is a White, heterosexual boy who doesn't think too deeply about the plights of others. That is, until a jarring football injury shifts him into a parallel universe. At first, the changes to Ash's world are small: Stop signs are blue, not red, for example. Then, with every tackle, Ash transports himself into a new reality, and the changes become much more pronounced. Characters change gender, social class status, sexuality, or even live in a world where racial segregation still exists. These changes in perspective prompt Ash to cultivate a greater sense of empathy and urgency regarding the suffering of others. But as reality becomes increasingly unstable, he must set the world back to rights. Ash is a clever, sincere narrator, and his journey of self-discovery is well-paced with solid twists at nearly every chapter's end. But the project ultimately attempts to tackle too much, covering abuse, racism, homophobia, misogyny, class privilege, and more; this leads to little time and nuance dedicated to each. Unlike in real life, characters typically possess a single marginalized identity, and the interplay between struggles for progress in different areas is not explored, oversimplifying matters. The joys of queer love are shown, but experiences of being female or Black are largely presented in terms of oppression. Additionally, characters from marginalized populations are generally used for Ash's own character development.A well-intentioned project whose earnest messages of empathy and equality fall short in execution. (Science fiction. 14-18)

Gr 8 Up-A hard tackle on the football field normally gives a linebacker a concussionbut every hit Ash Bowman takes throws him into new worlds, called Elsewheres. In the first Elsewhere, the stop signs are blue instead of red. The next hit sends him to an Elsewhere where his father is a professional football player. The next: Segregation is still legal. Ash learns this multidimensional jumping gives him the power to change the worldbut only so many times. Once his time runs out, the world will be stuck however he's left it. One might have hoped a novel so firmly grounded in current events would more deftly tackle topics like racism, homophobia, and misogynyas it is, this novel is a Chosen One white savior narrative. It is only after Ash, who is white and heterosexual, moves through alternate realities to experience firsthand discrimination that he learns these things are bad. Ash is deeply changed by what he learns across worlds, his narrative voice swerving between compelling and mansplaining as he pulls readers along. Shusterman's writing style instantly turns pages but ultimately isn't enough to make up for the problematic foundation the book was built on. "Arc of the Scythe" fans will likely be disappointed in this metaphysical novel, but the sports-meets-speculative aspects will draw in new readers. VERDICT An earnest novel that misses its mark, this is an additional purchase for collections where Shusterman's books already have an audience. Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL