The Experiment

As part of a long-term exploration project, 11-year-old Nathan and his family—members of an alien species called Kast—are masquerading as humans in New York City. But when Nathan starts to unexpectedly grow a tail, and he and his family are summoned to their mother ship, the Wagon, he fears he’ll go missing like several other Earth-side Kast children who failed to maintain cover—including his long-distance crush Izzy. Life on the Wagon is even worse than he expected. Upon arrival, he discovers it to be a place of inequity and deprivation, where Izzy and other disappeared children are forced into menial labor, while Nathan and his new tail are inexplicably celebrated as a success story and sent back to Earth. Suspecting the Wagon’s leadership of hiding a dark secret, Nathan enlists his human best friend Victor to uncover the truth behind his people and their lifelong mission. In this twisty, thoughtful tale, Stead (The List of Things That Will Not Change) touches on themes of estrangement, assimilation, exploitation, and agency as Nathan’s seeking independence for himself and his interstellar peers parallels contemporary challenges faced by immigrants in the U.S. The Kast are described as having “assumed all Earthly skin tones.” Ages 8–12. Agent: Faye Bender, Book Group. (Sept.)