Sleator often creates unusual events in ordinary places. For example, in The Spirit House, a Thai spirit invades a suburban American home that is similar to that of Max. Part of the appeal of the book is the premise that strange and mysterious adventures may occur right at home, right in the middle of a familiar world. In The Boxes, Annie's big house is a bit unusual, but the amazing events she experiences occur mostly in her bedroom closet and the basement, ordinary places. In Strange Attractors, Max has extraordinary experiences in the apartment of Sylvan II and Eve II, which is subjected to chaotic time on a branching timeline, and Sleator has some fun by placing an ordinary mobile home in the middle of the North American wilderness in 33,019 B.C.

Sometimes Sleator takes his characters out of the mundane world and places...