Slower Kindle Edition

Ted Shepherd will captivate his audience as Emit Friend discovers his ability to slow time. Though Slower is science fiction it gives the reader pause about the mysterious events in history that are unsolved. Emit realized he wasn’t the only one when a bible was stolen in plain sight. Investigating more unsolved riddles causes Emit to realize it isn’t just stealing that this other slower does, but also murder. He learns his body is unique in its cellular makeup and that is just the beginning of his ability. Slower is exciting, mystifying, and unique as this story unfolds. I love how Ted Shepherd reveals the second slower to Emit and the battle of wills. Will Emit swallow his pride and accept the knowledge and wisdom from this man who has done unspeakable destruction in history? He knows he should trust the other slower, but the familiarity causes contention.  I found this novel thrilling and couldn’t put it down.

It is very rare to come across a middle-grade novel that is done so funnily and seriously at the same time like Slower.The protagonist, an ADHD, inquisitive, high-school boy named Emit goes through some “slow time” in his learning and classroom activities. What really happens to him is that he, like his cousin and classmate, Ellen, does not like their science teacher Ms. Beans, nor the boring science she teaches them.So, instead of concentrating on his studies, Emit finds excuses to let his mind wanders around like wind during science classes. He sometimes imagines doing something disruptive to the lessons so that Ms. Beans can stop wearying him out with her boring lessons.This book is full of jokes or funny expressions that will make you laugh and scream. It is a well-written middle-grade fiction I have read in a long time.

The basic premise of this YA novel is that Emit, and as it turns out, his grandfather, can slow time for everyone and everything else. This is a curious choice, because the same effect arises if they speed up time for themselves. The difference is, it should be easier to do something to yourself than for the rest of the Universe. The story starts with Emit discovering this "power", and his playing a few tricks, and then some with more serious consequences. Then he learns about his grandfather's power and that his grandfather was a Nazi. No more; even that may be too much, but it gives an outline of the nature of the moral and ethical dilemmas Emit must face.With one reservation, the worldbuilding is very good. That reservation, oddly enough, is with the physics. What the author has done is to say that a mild tap when everyone is slowed will have a big force in real time, presumably thinking in terms of force being dp/dt, p the momentum. Good thinking, except there is a problem with two frames of reference in which the key variable has a different scale. Suppose we find another expression for force, namely force equals work times the distance the work is applied? Now, the forces are the same in each frame, in accordance with Newton's third law, and the difference between the frames is that in the "slow" frame, the effect happens so fast. The change of energy in each frame is the same. So which do you go with? Anyway, leaving that aside, with the author's physics there is some really good action, and the story progresses in an interesting fashion that kept me reading. There are some moral dilemmas and brief philosophical discussions. The characters seem realistic and the story structure is good. Well done, Ted Shepherd.

The book starts a bit awkward and I assumed this was going to be a 2 or 3 star review. The pacing just seemed to be a little off. But either I got used to it, or things improved as I read on. I finally settled on 4 stars, but I considered 5.This is a YA novel about a 14-year-old boy who discovers he can “slow” time. In my perspective, he is actually speeding himself up, rather than slowing the universe. That difference in perspective may be the reason for the negligible quibbles I have about some of the results of “slowing.” Though I do have a few quibbles, Shepherd has done a remarkable job of considering the effects and backs it up with science.The beginning moves a bit slow as Emit learns of his power, then begins to understand the repercussions of using it in a high school setting. Things pick up as the action moves off campus and the stakes get higher. Though action packed and suspenseful, this is largely a story about ethics and morality. Shepherd uses political thought from neo-nazi propaganda to far left plans to rewrite the fourth-amendment allowing prosecution of hate speech. He is fairly even handed in his portrayal of political stances. I wasn’t sure, until the end, which side he would come down on. The antagonist is not a two dimensional character, twirling his mustache, as he contemplates the evil he can do. He is given a fair shot a pleading his case. It is obvious that he believes in what he is doing, and even makes a compelling argument.The author also explores the temptation to misuse power. Emit takes several missteps, some accidental, others intentional. He is finally forced to face some very harsh truths about who he is, and about who somebody he loves is. He has to decide what kind of person he will be. He also has to take some hard action.The last couple of lines hint that there may be a sequel or series. I’ll certainly check out the next book.