Time after Time (Best Wishes #3) by Sarah Mlynowski and Christina Soontornvat for Timeslip Tuesday

 

If you are in the mood for a fun middle school ground-hog day timeslip, Time after Time (Best Wishes #3) by Sarah Mlynowski and Christina Soontornvat (November 2023, Scholastic) is a great pick!  This series is built around a magic bracelet, passed on from girl to girl, and it arrives at Lucy's house in Fort Worth, Texas, on the day she most needs a magic wish!

Lucy's life (before this day) has been fine--she loves the days she spends with her mom and stepdad and the two little babies, but she also loves going to the calm of her dad's house, where she can count on every thing to be in its place (she likes order and control very much).  And she's really excited for her class field trip to the Natural History Museum, where her dad works. The first shadow comes when Ms. Brock, the school librarian, turns out to be a chaperone--she's dating Lucy's dad, and always seems to be harder on Lucy than she is on anyone else.  That shadow darkens when another kid pukes on her, and  Grace, her best friend and science fair partner, gets angry at her during the museum scavenger hunt (extra credit to the winners!) and Lucy can't see why she would be. 

And then the real storm hits when her dad proposes to Ms. Brock in front of her whole class, and she runs from the museum....

When the police find her and bring her home, the bracelet has come in the mail with a letter of explanation from the girl who had it before, who had made a wish on it that came true.  And Lucy is thrilled to make her own wish, to live this terrible day again but this time to do it right.  But she doesn't, and the magic sends her back day after day, with things not improving.  Lucy has to do some hard thinking about herself before the bracelet lets her day stick, but finally, with help from the two girls who had their own complications from the magic in the first two books, it does.

Some of the repeats are entertaining (especially for the target audience), like the struggle to avoid puke, and some are thought provoking, like the reasons for Grace to be angry with her, and her feelings about her father marrying again.  The clues she picks up each time around let these bigger issue get resolved realistically and though I wanted to shake Lucy a bit, the time travel was doing that for me so that was ok and it was good to see her take a hard look at herself!

It doesn't break any new ground for those of us who have read hundreds of time travel books, but it should be a hit with those who love the first two books, and especially for readers who love the idea of getting second (or third or fourth) chances to do things over.  And I might well pick up book #4--there's a mysterious antagonist trying to get a hold of the bracelet for herself, and I'm curious about her....