House of Stairs by William Sleator

Sleator, William. House of Stairs.

Puffin; 1991 (originally published in 1974),

ISBN: 0140345809.

Reader’s Annotation

Five teenagers find themselves in a strange place—a place seemingly with no walls, no floors, no ceilings—only flights of stairs, a basin of running water, and a strange machine that sometimes produces food.

Plot Summary

Five teenagers—Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver—each an orphan, and none of them know the others until they find themselves in a strange, mysterious place.  No ceilings, floors or walls can be found—only stairs. There is also a strange red machine, a machine that they slowly learn love and trust, and to let virtually rule their lives as they figure out how to survive in that awful place. Peter is a nice, but kind of slow boy. Lola is the juvenile delinquent. Blossom’s a spoiled girl her grew up with wealth, but is recently orphaned. Abigail is a pleasant girl, but one who is easy swayed by others. And Oliver is an outgoing, generous, self-confident athlete.  As the machine’s manipulations of them take a sinister turn, they each have to decide just how far they will go.

Critical Evaluation

This book has been around a long time, and because of its suspenseful, chilling plot, it still captivates and horrifies readers.  The “house of stairs” isn’t a hospital, or another institution, or anything that Peter, Lola, Blossom, Abigail and Oliver can figure out.  The story is told mostly from Peter’s point of view.  Their lives soon revolve around the mysterious red machine.  At first the machine generously produces food, then it only produces food when the teens dance in a certain way, finally they learn that it will only produce food in response to their violence and aggression.  The focus of the story really isn’t on the enigmatic setting, or even the machine itself.  The focal point is the five characters themselves—their strengths, weaknesses and most importantly how they relate to each other, and to the machine.

Information about the Author

William Sleator has written more than 30 books for young adults including Interstellar Pig, The Green Futures of Tycho, Strange Attractors, The Spirit House.  He received a degree in English from Harvard in 1967, and published his first novel, Blackbriar, in 1974.  For more information go to: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/william-sleator/

Genre

Science Fiction

Suspense

Thriller

Curriculum Tie-ins

Psychology

Booktalk Ideas

Can you think of any other actions that the characters could have taken I response to the machine?

This book is set in the unspecified future—Do you think things like could happen today?

Reading level/Interest age

Young Adult (grade 9+)

Challenge Issues/Challenge Response Ideas

• Intense psychological abuse
• Be ready with a copy of the library’s selection policy
• Be familiar with similar works in the collection
• Refer to awards and other information: Authors4teens
  

Why I included this work

I read this book back in middle school in the late 70s, and it has always kind of haunted me.  I was not surprised that it is still well read. Among the honors The House of Stairs are:

• A YALSA Best of the Best Books 1970-1983
• A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 1974
• A YALSA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults 1966-1986, American Library Association, 1988
• One of YALSA's 100 Best of the Best Books for Young Adults, 1967-1992, 1994
• One of the 100 Best of the Best Books for Young Adults Published During the Last Four Decades of the Twentieth Century, 2000

Great Quotes from the Book:

"The whirring around them had been going on for quite a long time."