William Sleator, acclaimed writer of middle grade fiction, brings his childhood to life in a series of humorous anecdotes about the memorable events he and his family lived through while he was growing up in the late 1950s through the heart of the 1960s. We learn about his unconventional parents - Mom, a pediatrician and Dad, a physiology professor - along with his sister and two brothers. From pretending to be BMs by wrapping up in brown blankets to his sister at 5 years old announcing to their dad's boss and his wife that the pile of sand in the backyard was "a shit pit" because all of the cats and dogs in the neighborhood that used it. Describing he and his sister as the first hippies at their high school, their behavior was purposely shocking. Popping ABC (Already Been Chewed) gum from under school drinking fountains into their mouths, chewing happily, they made sure the "pituh" or pitifully popular kids, observed them and were properly disgusted. Sleator attributes the fact that, as adults, he and his siblings never base their behavior on what other people think of them to these uncommon early years. Overall, a truly enjoyable account of a unique family. ( )

William Sleator's autobiographical book Oddballs is an oddball read. It's geared for lower middle school kids and has 10 short vignettes about his childhood. Billy is the oldest and has a younger sister, Vicki, and two younger brothers, Danny and Tycho. While they all seem to have grown up to be normal adults, they were odd children.

A collection of autobiographical stories that are weird, funny and totally entertaining. ( )

William Sleator's autobiographical book Oddballs is an oddball read. It's geared for lower middle school kids and has 10 short vignettes about his childhood. Billy is the oldest and has a younger sister, Vicki, and two younger brothers, Danny and Tycho. While they all seem to have grown up to be normal adults, they were odd children.

The stories include
--one about Billy's friend, Frank, who hypnotized Tycho to smash something every time he heard the word Window.
--one in which the kids (the Sleators and the Greenwalds, family friends) grouse about the fact that their parents always think other kids are better and always criticize them. They actually put on a play about it, but the parents are to self-absorbed to see themselves in the characters.
--Pituhs are the 'in crowd', which did not include the Sleator family.One story tells of a piano recital in which Vicki went midly beserk.
--Leah was an unreliable friend so introduced them to ethnic dancing. However, she exaggerated everything; her friends, her grades, etc. The Sleators and their friends basically took over the dance class and became friends with the teachers, to the exclusion of Leah. When Leah mentioned she was skipping senior year to go to Stamford (or Harvard) early, no one believed her...but it was true.

All in all, Oddballs was a mildly amusing book, however, I could see how kids would like it. ( )

A laugh-out-loud collection of vignette's from children's science fiction writer William Sleator's childhood, these stories are a celebration of rejecting the mainstream and pursuing your own surreal drummer. Best are the "Pituh-Plays", somewhere between practical jokes and performance art, including "the watermellon baby" and "Vanya, the insane pianist". ( )