THE EXPERIMENT

Rebecca Stead is the New York Times bestselling author of When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy, First Light, Goodbye Stranger, Bob, and, most recently, The List of Things That Will Not Change. Her books have been awarded the Newbery Medal, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Fiction and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Rebecca lives in New York City, where she is always on the lookout for her next story idea.

“A great, grand endeavor that, by all rights, should be around for years and years to come.” —Betsy Bird, Fuse#8

“Many twists await in this fast-moving and optimistic story by one of today’s most inventive writers for readers ages 8-12.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Accessible and compulsively readable . . . with keen insights and wry humor coloring the short chapters that keep the pages turning to the end.” —Booklist

“The pacing is superb, neatly blending family dynamics, friendship, and tween romance with page-turning mystery, adventure, and horror.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The diverse characters and story are well developed, ensuring that readers remain captivated from start to finish. Overall, this book is a delightful addition to the genre that will fly off the shelves. Its relatable themes and imaginative elements ensure it will resonate with readers long after they turn the last page. … A middle grade must-read highly recommended for fans science fiction and books like A Wrinkle in Time.“ —School Library Journal, starred review

“Vivid imagery, especially of the ship, launches readers into Nathan’s world while expert writing, short chapters, and carefully revealed discoveries move the story along at a rapid pace, blending sci-fi with humor. Strong character development, like the complicated backstory of a villain, brings further depth, as do the believably strong relationships, including Nathan’s unbreakable friendship with Victor. Stead’s creativity shines here, from Nathan’s unusual tail to later plot twists and turns (not to mention the tattletale, alien-enhanced cat). Anyone who enjoys Stead’s writing, along with sci-fi lovers and even superhero fans will easily devour this latest offering, staying up late under the covers with flashlight in hand to read just one more chapter. “ —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (BCCB), starred review

1. Contrast Nathan’s and Victor’s families. Explain why Nathan says Victor’s family is “normal, messy, and perfect” (page 63). What is Victor’s opinion of Nathan’s parents? Nathan’s parents are very strict and overprotective. Why do they agree to let him spend time at Victor’s?
2. What happened to Nathan in Florida that alarmed his parents? Why did they have to report it? To whom did they make the report? Why do they now have to return to the mothership, known as the Wagon?
3. The D.P.s come to take Nathan and his parents to the Wagon. According to Izzy, a fellow alien, D.P.s are “kind of bitter” and have “an authority complex” (page 27). Cite evidence that Izzy is correct. At what point does Nathan learn the true identity of the D.P.s?
4. Why does it take courage for Nathan to tell Victor about the tail growing on his back and his family’s back-ground? Discuss Victor’s reaction. Explain why Nathan takes Victor along when he returns to the Wagon. Why does he abandon Victor at the mall?
5. Izzy names Nathan’s tail Tuck. How is this an appropriate name? Chart Tuck’s growth. Explain why the tail takes on the appearance of Hobbes’s tail. What does Nathan learn about Tuck when he visits the Wagon the second and final time?
6. How does Victor sense that Nathan has a crush on Izzy? What is Nathan’s response to Victor’s observation? Discuss Nathan’s reaction when he learns that Izzy and Leo are a couple. Describe Nathan and Izzy’s friendship after he liberates those being held in Section Six of the Wagon.
7. Nathan has been told his entire life that his family is an experiment. Explain why he feels that he failed. His mother tells him that they are going to the Wagon to get him help. What does his mother expect to happen? Why does Hester send them back to New York?
8. Why is Nathan shocked when he sees Hester for the first time? What did he expect? Discuss what he learns about Hester when he returns to the Wagon? Why does Nathan’s mother defend Hester until the end when Nathan comes home with news?
9. Describe Section Six. Why does Izzy call it a “hole in a doughnut”? What is Izzy’s theory about whether the people on the Wagon, and in the experiment, are really aliens? Izzy believed in the experiment until she couldn’t anymore. What made her stop believing? How does she influence Nathan’s opinion? Discuss his parents’ response when he shares Izzy’s theory.
10. Why does Nathan return to the Wagon alone? His mother sees him go via camera. Discuss why she feels it is the right thing to do to let him go.
11. How are Nathan’s parents and the other nine families brainwashed by Hester? What does Nathan learn about his parents’ identity?
12. What is the significance of the video games in Nathan’s mom’s closet? Describe the egg that Nathan finds in a shoebox. What is its purpose? Explain the role of Nathan’s cat, Toto, and Izzy’s cat, Mr. Cute.
13. Explain what Hester means when she says, “I will never ever, ever, understand why they chose you” (page 211). Who is “they”? Discuss what she means by, “You don’t see because you don’t know how to look” (page 211). Debate what Nathan “sees” when he returns to the Wagon.
14. Identify the central theme of the book. Explain why the novel is called a coming-of-age story.

1: NATHAN

Nathan had spent the morning re-reading comics in bed before sliding into a long nap that ended when his dad tapped twice on the door and called out, “Are you conscious?”

It was how his dad always woke Nathan on school days (regular ones, when their world wasn’t ending): two taps and “Are you conscious?”

Nathan usually answered, “I am now!”

Today he said, “Unfortunately.”

He heard the key turn in the lock, and then his dad was smiling awkwardly in the doorway while balancing a tray in one hand.

“I brought lunch.” He grinned at the books that still surrounded Nathan on the bed. “Bingeing some comics, huh? Life always seems a little brighter with Calvin and Hobbes.”

Nathan wasn’t a big reader, but his dad was right: Calvin and Hobbes was his safe space. His happy place. Not that he was feeling very happy—or safe—at the moment.

Sitting up, Nathan rubbed one eye. “It’s lunchtime already? When are they getting here? I could have gone to school.” Victor was probably freaking out at school. Nathan was never absent. Never.

“Sorry, kiddo.” His dad put down the lunch tray on Nathan’s desk, exactly where Nathan’s computer should have been sitting. “Hang tight. I’m sure it won’t be much longer.”

Nathan’s best friend, Victor, loved Calvin and Hobbes, too. Sometimes they read the comic strips together out loud, each of them taking a character. Victor was always Calvin (the mischievous boy), and Nathan was always Hobbes (the thoughtful tiger).

Which made sense. Victor said Nathan was a lot like Hobbes because he was thoughtful and easygoing (“immune to annoying people,” he said). And Victor was like Calvin because he was hyper and adventurous.

When Nathan said he was adventurous, too, Victor just smiled at him.

* * *

Nathan was pretty much dying to text Victor, but his parents had also taken his phone. He ate the lunch his dad brought him, even though he thought about not eating it. He could have pushed it away and said, “Zero calories! Tell her to write that down in the big book of everything.”

But he didn’t. He ate the whole thing: cheese and lettuce sandwich with pickles, a cup of blueberries (carefully weighed, he was sure, even today), a small bag of pretzels that he recognized from the plane (two ounces, conveniently labeled), and two Girl Scout cookies (oatmeal, which was all they had left). Plus two glasses of water, sitting side by side.

“Good job, mate,” his dad said when he came back for the dishes. They both knew it was easier for Nathan’s mom if he ate everything, because otherwise she’d have to weigh his leftovers and do the math. “Calorie intake” was one of the blanks on her daily report.

Nathan said he had to pee. “You still have to let me go to the bathroom, right?”

His dad looked shocked. “Of course. This is not your fault, kiddo. No one is mad at you.” He let Nathan’s door swing all the way open. “Your mom and I are…”

Sad? Disappointed? Freaked out? Hanging tight?

“Just following orders,” Nathan said. “I know. Mom already told me.”

In the bathroom, Nathan stared hard at himself. The Florida sun had brought out his freckles in the five days they’d been away for their (first-ever) family vacation. But nothing else seemed different. He didn’t look like a failure.

In the mirror over the sink, anyway.

When Nathan was done, his dad locked him back in his room. “Remember,” he called through the door, “we’re a team!”

Nathan had been raised to believe that. He wanted to believe it. Lying across the bed (on his stomach), he watched a sliver of sunlight crawl a few inches across the floor and wished he were at school.

2: NO SCHOOL TODAY

Nathan’s backpack, stuffed with his notebooks plus one smelly chunk of French cheese, was still on his desk chair, where he had set it down early that morning to pull on a sweatshirt before school. That was when the phone in his parents’ bedroom rang. His mom had come into Nathan’s room thirty seconds later, looking pale but trying to smile.

“No school today, honey. We’re all going to the Wagon.”

“The Wagon?” Nathan had felt like his heart might actually stop.

“Hester wants to see you, sweetheart.”

“Hester called? Wait. Do we have to?”

She blinked. “She’s the boss, sweetie.”

“Can’t I just go to a doctor or something? Here? In New York?”

She glanced around the room, and Nathan followed her gaze to the papier-mâché mask hanging on the wall above his desk. He’d made it in third grade, when he and Victor both had Mr. Edmund, the best art teacher at school. Mr. Edmund always let them hang out in the art room during lunch.

Nathan’s heart had changed its mind: Instead of stopping, it was going double-time. “Mom?”

Now she was staring out the window, where Nathan saw pigeons flying in a big circle over the water tower across the street. Around and around.

“Someone’s coming to pick us up,” she said. And then she left, closing the door behind her.

That was when he heard the key turn in his door.

“You locked me in?” he yelled.

She answered through the door, “Just a precaution, sweetie. Hester’s orders. I love you. Try not to worry.”

3: THE TRUTH

After eating one hundred percent of his lunch, Nathan discovered that the crack under his bedroom door allowed him a pretty decent view of the apartment. He spent the next hours with one cheek to the floor, looking through the kitchen, past the crowded shoe rack by the front door, and straight into the living room. Waiting.

Waiting for the doorbell to ring.

Waiting for his parents to emerge from their room.

Waiting for this endless day to be over.

But also: not wanting it to end. Because what came next might be worse.

All afternoon, Toto paced up and down the kitchen cupboards like a guard, whiskers twitching. Once, cupping his hands together, Nathan called to him through the crack, and Toto trotted to the other side of his door. Nathan poked a finger underneath to touch Toto’s paw. They stayed like that for a minute.

“Your cat is extra-smart, right?” Victor had asked him a long time ago. “I never had one because my grandma’s allergic, but I’m pretty sure most cats aren’t that smart.” (Nathan had just asked Toto to give them “some privacy,” and Toto had raised his tail, sneezed once, and left the room.)

“He’s enhanced,” Nathan had explained.

Copyright © 2025 by Rebecca Stead