Meet Me in the Fourth Dimension

Gr 10 Up–Best friends Crosby and Shannon experienced high school as wiccans, celebrating solstices and delving into astrology, tarot cards, and more. Crosby adheres to the teachings of hippie parents who practice homeopathic medicine, while Shannon’s home life has been volatile. Dismayed by Shannon’s departure for out-of-state school, Crosby holds on to the past while trying to adapt to college life with friends and teachers that challenge her beliefs. A dwarf planet heading towards Earth, an astronomical event that becomes the focus of conspiracy theories and doomsday cults and intensifies her obsession with apocalyptic omens. Crosby succumbs to fatalist fantasies and catastrophe rhetoric, getting further immersed in misinformation and survival-planning, hoping to escape the earthbound “third dimension” and enter the “fourth dimension” through occult practices. Having given up her possessions, Crosby joins a road trip and finds that her focus on the asteroid enables her to avoid dealing with the changes that occur as one transitions to adult life. Told in first-person free verse, this novel will resonate with readers trying to understand how they fit in the world. The story wraps up succinctly, although the ending is open to interpretation. There is mature language and content, including drinking and drug use. Most characters present as white; one supporting character is gay, and Crosby’s intense feelings for Shannon may be platonic or romantic.