Timeslip/Time Travel books I've reviewed, sorted by time period
A regular feature here at my blog is "Timeslip Tuesday," a day on which I try to review a timeslip, or time travel, book. I prefer "timeslip," at term more commonly used in the UK, because of its connotations of the slippiness of time (things reverberating across the centuries), whereas "time travel" has a much more solid feel of people moving from one time to another. So in some of the books I call timeslip stories, there isn't much time travel qua travel at all... However, the title of this page is "time travel books" just because I think more people are familiar with that term.
I've added information on the age level of the intended audience--mg stands for "middle grade," ie, good for kids 9-12 years old, ya for "young adult," ie teenagers. Adult, not surprisingly, means it's a book published for adults. The date of publication is given in parentheses. Within each time period, the books are orderd by reading age, then by date of publication.
Some books first published in the UK were retitled when they were published in the US, or maybe given new titles in later editions--the original title is given first, and the edition I read is the one that gets the link.
Please let me know if you see any errors! And I'm always open to recommendations, especially for non-middle grade books, and for culturally diverse books. You can contact me at charlotteslibrary@gmail.com
The ancient past (3):
Dinosaur Dream, by Dennis Nolan (1990) picture book
Charlie and Kiwi, an Evolutionary Adventure, by Peter H. Reynolds (2011) picture book
11,000 Years Lost, by Peni R. Griffin (2004), mg
Ancient Europe (Pre-Romans) (1):
On Etruscan Time, by Tracy Barrett (2005) mg
Romans (1):
The Green Bronze Mirror, by Lynne Ellison (1966) mg
The Dark Ages of Europe (5):
Catweazle, by Richard Carpenter (1970) mg
Knights of the Kitchen Table, by Jon Scieszka (1991) mg
Ravine, by Janet Hickman (2002) mg
The Taker and the Keeper, by Win Coleman and Pat Perrin (2009) mg
A String in the Harp, by Nancy Bond (1976) mg/ya
The European Middle Ages (14):
The Gauntlet, by Ronald Welch (1951) mg
Astercote, by Penelope Lively (1970) mg (although no-one goes quite all the way back in time, and possibly the echoes of the medieval village are coming forward)
A Well-Timed Enchantment, by Vivian Vande Velde (1990) mg
The Battle for Duncragglin, by Andrew H. Vanderwal (2009) mg
The Puzzle Ring, by Kate Forsyth (2009) mg
Sent, by Margeret Peterson Haddix (2009) mg
Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke (2012) mg
Crusade in Jeans, by Thea Beckman (1973 in Holland, 1975 in the US) mg/YA
Saving Juliet, by Suzanne Selfors (2008) ya
The Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis (1992) ya/adult
Old Magic, by Marianne Curley (2001) ya
Black Powder, by Staton Rabin (2005) ya
Wildwing, by Emily Whitman (2010) ya
My Unfair Godmother, by Janette Rallison (2011) ya
Elizabethan/early Stuart England (6):
A Traveller in Time, by Alison Uttley (1939) mg
The Bassumtyte Treasure, by Jane Louise Curry (1975) mg
Poor Tom's Ghost, by Jane Louise Curry (1977), mg
Webster's Leap, aka Castle Gryffe, by Eileen Dunlop (1995) mg
The Black Canary, by Jane Louise Curry (2005) mg
In the Garden of Iden, by Kage Baker (1997) adult
Historic India (1):
The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2005) mg
Historic China (1):
Along the River, by Adeline Yen Mah (2010) ya
17th century Europe (1):
1632 by Eric Flint (2000) adult
Late 16th/17th-century USA (4):
The 13th Floor, by Sid Fleischman (1995) mg
Sabotaged, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2010) mg
Torn, by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2011) mg
Another Whole Nother Story, by Dr. Cuthbert Soup (2011) mg
18th-century USA (1):
George Washington's Socks, by Elvira Woodruff (1991) mg
18th-century Europe (2):
Gideon the Cutpurse (US title The Time Travelers), by Linda Buckley-Archer (2006) mg
The Middle Window, by Elizabeth Goudge (1939) adult
19th-century (19)
Europe:
The Snowstorm, by Beryl Netherclift (1967) mg
The Court of the Stone Children, by Eleanor Cameron (1973) mg
A Stitch in Time, by Penelope Lively (1976) mg
A Different Day, a Different Destiny, by Annette Laing (2009) (also 19th cent. USA) mg
Prada and Prejudice, by Mandy Hubbard (2009) ya
Australia:
Playing Beatie Bow, by Ruth Park (1980) ya
USA:
Just in Time, Abraham Lincoln, by Patricia Polacco (2011) picture book
Time at the Top, by Edward Ormondroyd (1963) mg, and its sequel, All In Good Time (1975)
Double Spell, by Janet Lunn (2003, but originally 1971 as Twin Spell) mg
Friends in Time, by Grace Chatwin (1992) mg
Stonewall Hinckleman and the Battle of Bull Run, by Michael Hemphill & Sam Riddleburger (2009) mg
Freedom Stone, by Jeffrey Kluger (2011) mg
The Freedom Maze, by Delia Sherman (2011) mg/ya
Little Women and Me, by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (2011) mg/ya
Silent Echoes, by Carla Jablonski (2007) ya
Tennyson, by Leslie Blume (2008) ya
A Wish After Midnight, by Zetta Elliott (2009) ya
Kindred, by Octavia Butler (1979) adult
Late 19th/early 20th century Europe and North America (9):
The Secret Box, by Barbara Lehman (2011) picture book
Fog Magic, by Julia L. Sauer (1943) mg
Tom's Midnight Garden, by Phillipa Pearce (1958) mg
Jessamy, by Barbara Sleigh (1967) mg
The Ghosts (retitled The Amazing Mr. Blunden in 1972), by Antonia Barber (1969) mg
A Flute in Mayferry Street, (US title The House on Mayferry Street) by Eileen Dunlop (1976) mg
Can I Get There by Candlelight? by Jean Slaughter Doty (1980) mg
The Doll in the Garden, by Mary Downing Hahn (1989) mg
The Time-Travelling Fashionista, by Bianca Turetsky (2011) mg
World War I (3):
Charlotte Sometimes, by Penelope Farmer (1969) mg
Day of the Assassins, by Johnny O'Brien (2009) upper mg/YA
The Jewel and the Key, by Louise Spiegler (2011) YA
World War II (12):
Don't Know Where, Don't Know When, by Annette Laing (2007) mg (also a bit of WW I)
The Devil's Arithmetic, by Jane Yolen (1988) mg
Ghost of Heros Past, by Charles Read (2010) mg (also a bit of WW I)
Time to Go Back, by Mabel Esther Allan (1972) ya
London Calling, by Edward Bloor (2006) ya
The Clearing, by Heather Davis (2010) ya
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs (2011) ya
Dark Mirror, by M.J. Putney (2010) ya
Dark Passage, by M.J. Putney (2011) ya
"Fire Watch", by Connie Willis (1982) adult
Blackout, by Connie Willis (2010) adult
All Clear, by Connie Willis (2010) adult
20th-Century Europe (3):
Beswitched, by Kate Saunders (2010) mg
Changing Times, by Tim Kennemore (1984) ya
Frannie in Pieces, by Delia Ephron (2007) ya
20th-Century North America (9):
The Backwards Watch, by Eric Houghton (1991) picture book
The Magic Half, by Annie Barrows (2008) mg
On the Blue Comet, 1920s to 1940s, by Rosemary Wells (2010), mg
Roberto and Me, mostly 1969, but also the future, by Dan Gutman (2010) mg
Backtracked, by Pedro de Alcantara (2009) ya
Small Eternities, by Michael Laurence (2004) ya
TimeRiders, by Alex Scarrow (2010) mg/ya
Timeless, 1910, 1920s, 1940s, by Alexandra Monir, (2011), ya
Wishful Thinking, by Alexandra Bullen (2011) ya
A variety of time periods (22):
The House of Arden, by E. Nesbit (1908) mg
Harding's Luck, by E. Nesbit (1909) mg
Sun Slower, Sun Faster, by Meriol Trevor (1955) mg
The Time Garden, by Edward Eager (1958) mg
The Ship That Flew, by Hilda Lewis (1958) mg
Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander (1963) mg
The Driftway, by Penelope Lively (1972) mg
The Stones of Green Knowe, by L.M. Boston (1976) mg
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeline L'Engle (1978) mg
The Time Bike, by Jane Langton (2000) mg
The Book of Time, by Guillaume Prevost (2007) mg
Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London (2008) mg (the Late Cretaceous, Atlantis, and tiny bit before the actual present)
Any Which Wall, by Laurel Snyder (2009) mg (5th century Britain, 18th and 19th century America)
A Walk Through a Window, by kc dyer (2009) mg (aspects of Canadian history)
The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone (2010) mg
Facing Fire, by kc dyer (2010) mg (aspects of Canadian history)
Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, by D. Robert Pease (2011) mg
Tomorrow's Guardian, by Richard Denning (2010) mg/ya
The History Keepers: The Storm Begins, by Damian Dibben (2011) mg/ya
Blood Secret, by Kathryn Lasky (2006) ya (the persecution of Jews from 1391 Spain to colonial Mexico)
Once a Witch, by Carolyn MacCullough (2009) ya
Ruby Red, by Kerstin Gier (2011) ya
The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman (2012) ya
Traveling to the book's present (more or less) (16):
Black Hunting Whip, by Monica Edwards (1950) mg
A Game of Catch, by Helen Cresswell (1969) mg
The House in Norham Gardens, by Penelope Lively (1974) mg
Three Lives to Live, by Anne Lindberg (1992) mg
Archer's Quest, by Linda Sue Park (2006) mg
Frozen in Time, by Ali Sparks (2009) mg
The Hotel Under the Sand, by Kage Baker (2009) mg
The Prince of Fenway Park, by Julianna Baggott (2009) mg
Benjamin Franklinstein Lives! by Matthew McElligott and Larrry Tuxbury(2010) mg
The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams, by Rhonda Hayter (2010) mg
The Dead Gentleman, by Matthew Cody (2011) mg
Dot to Dot, by Kit Bakke (2011), mg/ya
Time Piper, by Delia Huddy (1979) ya
The Long Wait for Tomorrow, by Joaquin Dorfman (2009) ya
The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler (2011) ya
Warped, by Maurissa Guibord (2011) ya
Time traveling to different presents/reliving the same present more or less/reliving bits of ones own recent past life/time travel to the near future (7):
Counterclockwise, by Jason Cockcroft (2009) mg
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass (2009) mg
Justin Thyme, by Panema Oxridge (2011) mg
A Year Without Autumn, by Liz Kessler (2011) mg
Alice in Time, by Penelope Bush (2011) ya
Tempest, by Julie Cross (2012) ya
The Book of Tomorrow, by Ceceila Ahern (2011) adult
Not set on Earth/set in fantasy/sci fi version of Earth (13):
A Tale of Time City, by Diana Wynne Jones (1987) mg
The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, by Dav Pilkey (2010) mg
Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah, by Lee Edward Fodi (2011) mg
The Only Ones, by Aaron Starmer (2011) mg
Maddigan's Fantasia, by Margaret Mahy (2007) mg/ya
The Navel of the World, by P.J. Hoover (2009) mg/ya
The Timekeeper's Moon, by Joni Sensel (2010) mg/ya
When the King Comes Home, by Caroline Stevermer (2000) ya
The Tomorrow Code, by Brian Faulkner (2008) ya
Pathfinder, by Orson Scott Card (2010) ya
A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan (2011) ya
Three Stories from The Wind's Twelve Quarters, by Ursula Le Guin (1975) adult
"Another Story," by Ursula Le Guin (1994) adult
Doesn't fit in any of the above categories (1)
Hourglass, by Myra McEntire (2011) --time travel to six months in the past
