It's not Pigs Don't Fly (YA novel question time)
March 30, 2015 10:46 AM Subscribe
Looking for the title of a YA novel, involving alternative dimensions, pigs flying, and improbability storms.
I remember reading this around the mid 90's time frame, and at this point half think it's a weird dream that I've misremembered.
The central plot of the novel is that a young girl is sick and staying home from school. A family friend comes by, and gives her a painting of herself (I think?) riding a unicorn. Said family friend is known for having unusual adventures.
Anyway, while admiring the painting, said young girl is spirited away to an alternate dimension. It's pretty similar to our own except they occasionally have "improbability storms" (my words, not the books) where something in the air would cause improbable things to happen. For example, they have to make sure to neither print lottery tickets or have the lottery itself during one of them. And during the greatest of storms, pigs do fly.
People from our world regularly seem to travel to this dimension, and get back, though no one knows how. The protagonist follows a lead on someone who had recently travelled there, and returned. She eventually realizes that an old nursery rhyme had the solution: you travel back by riding a pig in flight. She gets back and realizes that the traveller was the family friend from the beginning, and had unusual adventures by spiriting away some of the improbability affected air. She also had managed to return with a vacuum flask full of it.
Google has been no help, mainly because of the aforementioned other book involving pigs, and the time frame was slightly pre-Internet.
I remember reading this around the mid 90's time frame, and at this point half think it's a weird dream that I've misremembered.
The central plot of the novel is that a young girl is sick and staying home from school. A family friend comes by, and gives her a painting of herself (I think?) riding a unicorn. Said family friend is known for having unusual adventures.
Anyway, while admiring the painting, said young girl is spirited away to an alternate dimension. It's pretty similar to our own except they occasionally have "improbability storms" (my words, not the books) where something in the air would cause improbable things to happen. For example, they have to make sure to neither print lottery tickets or have the lottery itself during one of them. And during the greatest of storms, pigs do fly.
People from our world regularly seem to travel to this dimension, and get back, though no one knows how. The protagonist follows a lead on someone who had recently travelled there, and returned. She eventually realizes that an old nursery rhyme had the solution: you travel back by riding a pig in flight. She gets back and realizes that the traveller was the family friend from the beginning, and had unusual adventures by spiriting away some of the improbability affected air. She also had managed to return with a vacuum flask full of it.
Google has been no help, mainly because of the aforementioned other book involving pigs, and the time frame was slightly pre-Internet.
Best answer: Same author, alternate title, I think: "The Pigs Are Flying."
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:58 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:58 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: 10 minutes and we're done! Thanks.
posted by zabuni at 11:11 AM on March 30, 2015
posted by zabuni at 11:11 AM on March 30, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by MonkeyToes at 10:56 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]