● Name that Novel? ●

I am looking for a science fiction novel that I do not have the name or author to. I wonder if this will ring a bell with anyone:

1. In the novel, people alter the universe by shifting blocks with their mind
2. Certain people are able to alter space and time by doing this, but not everyone
3. The closest comparison would be the film Scanners


I realize the description is vague. I'm trying to find it for a friend, it was her favorite sci-fi novel from when she was a child.

The thing about using blocks to change the universe makes me think of Doctor Whoverse Block Transfer Computation.