Parasite Pig
novel by William Sleator
Parasite Pig is a young adult science fiction novel written by William Sleator. It is the sequel to the 1984 book Interstellar Pig.
Plot
Parasite Pig follows the character of Barney, who has been working part-time at an after-school job in order to pay for the repairs for his house. The aliens still have plans for Barney and he must deal with talking parasites, giant crustaceans, and a wasp woman.
Reception
Critical reception for Parasite Pig has been mostly positive. Booklist and Kirkus Reviews praised the book, with Kirkus saying that the book's secondary characters gave the book a freshness and "keeps it from being merely a sequel". The Horn Book Magazine also reviewed the book, praising the book's aliens as "well developed". The Washington Post reviewed the book, stating that "The dialogue is deficient, the characterization right out of "Scooby Doo," the budding romance inane.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Parasite Pig” as novel by William Sleator. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as novel by William Sleator. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7135936. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Parasite Pig”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Parasite Pig primary sources, Parasite Pig archive and Parasite research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Parasite Pig” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.