OUT OF BODY

In Baer’s YA novel, a 15-year-old girl and her cousin discover they can astrally project themselves while asleep.

Abby Kendrick has felt lonely in her northern Oregon town of Eerie ever since her cousin and best friend, Logan, moved to Pittsburgh.Alone on Halloween night, watching a scary movie, Abby gets a scare of her own when items in the house seem to start moving around on their own. After a few frantic calls from her cousin, she finds out he has the ability to travel in astral form, invisible to others, while he’s asleep. He calls the incidents OBEs (“out-of-body experiences”), and on Halloween, he says, he used this ability to prank her. After he’s explained how it works, Abby soon realizes that apparently OBEs are something that other members of her family can do—including her. Together, the two cousins visit various landmarks around the world, exploring and seeing sights they never dreamed they’d be able to visit. But Logan seems to be hiding something; it seems that he’s gone far beyond Earth to explore other parts of the universe, including a far-off planet he’s named Mysterium. She can tell that the distant travel is taking its toll on Logan, as he looks unhealthier every time she sees him. Abby may be the only person who can save him from himself. Over the course of Baer’s tale with SF elements, she walks a fine line between typical teenage problems and those that arise only because of her and her cousin’s strange ability. The story takes time to show how Abby has plenty of more realistic and relatable issues to deal with in her own life: She’s tutoring one of the most popular girls in her grade, her alcoholic uncle seems to be drinking again, and her parents have been arguing more and more. As such, both teenage and adult readers will find things to enjoy in this story, which keeps up a steady pace. The mystery of just what Logan is up to will keep readers engaged throughout.

An entertaining interplanetary teen adventure.