Throwback, by Maurene Goo, for Timeslip Tuesday

This week's time travel book, Throwback, by Maurene Goo (YA, April 2023, Zando Young Readers), sends Samantha, the daughter of Korean immigrants, back in time to the 1990s, where she has to play the role of an ordinary high school kid until she figures out what she needs to change back in the past in order to get home again.

Sam is kicking hard against her mother's expectations and aspirations.  We first met her when she's deliberately being obnoxious during her parents' country club membership interview (and yes, I share Sam's views about country clubs and their grass maintenance issues, but still it was hard to like her at first).  She and her mother, Priscilla, are clashing at every turn, and it comes to a head when Priscilla's mom, Sam's beloved Halomi, is hospitalized and in a coma.  No, Sam doesn't want to be taken shopping for a Homecoming dress the next day.  And tells her mother she hates her (and yes, I see where Sam is coming from, and there are failures of communication on both sides, but it strengthened my feelings about Sam being self-centered).

In any event, she has to find a ride back to school....and the driver who comes to pick her up ends up taking her back to the past.  

So there's Sam, in the 1990s, in her mom's high school.  Her mom is in the running for homecoming queen, and Sam knows she didn't win, and that somehow this situation soured the relationship between her and Halomi.  Maybe this is what she needs to change...so she makes herself Priscilla's campaign manager.

The culture shock is real--Sam has never been more conscious of being Korean and is appalled by the racism her mom had/has to deal with daily.  There's also the casual misogyny, lack of environmental awareness, and lack of technology.  But sticking to Priscilla like glue, she finds her understanding of her mother deepening, finds her grandmother wasn't nearly as wonderful as a mother, and finds that they are actually becoming real friends.  And on top of this, she finds herself falling by another new kid, a boy who seems almost as out of place as she is....

I never did quite warm to Sam, who I found too pushy and thoughtless, but I did very much appreciate the way she becomes more aware of what her mother is really like as a person, and more understanding of the circumstances that made her who she became.  This is really well done.  And I found the romance sub-plot fun as well (and was glad to see Sam doing some critical thinking about her boyfriend back in the present; there were many red flags that she was ignoring).  What was the most fun though were the trials and tribulations of being a modern girl back in the 1990s, and the target audience should get a kick out of this as well. 

In short, an engrossing read with enough thought-provoking-ness to keep it from being just fluffy fun, and more than enough fun to make it more than an emotionally heavy mother-daughter relationship story.

Time travel wise--Sam lucked out here.  She finds a place to stay with a kind woman who she knows in her own time as an assisted living resident with dementia, and this woman not only gives her food and shelter but also money.  The mechanics of the time travel were satisfactory, and the changes made in the past did have ripples, but the biggest change was in Sam's greater understanding of her mother, her grandmother, and her (now ex) boyfriend.

My Second Impression of You, by Michelle I. Mason, for Timeslip Tuesay

My Second Impression of You, by Michelle I. Mason (Sept. 20th, Bloomsbury), is a fun YA romance (and even upper Middle Grade readers) fueled by a very interesting time slip plot.

16 year old Maggie is sure that her perfect boyfriend, Theo, is going to ask her to prom when he suggests meeting up at a coffee shop, but instead, he breaks up with her.  Stumbling back to her car, she falls and hurts her foot.  Theo does nothing to help, but his best friend, Carson, who Maggie has never liked, is there and drives her home.

Maggie turns out to have broken a foot bone, and needs surgery, and her life, which centers around drama and dances, crashes down to mingle with the loss of Theo.  She wallows in self-pity.  So when she gets a text offering her the chance to revisit the best day of her life, she can't revisit, and installs the app.  She'll go back to the wonderful, giddy, fairytale day when she and Theo first met.

But this time around, the app keeps intruding, showing her the day from other points of view.  Her best friend has a secret that might ruin the love and trust between them.  Theo is not exactly the romantic hero Maggie had thought.  Carson is more than just Theo's unwelcome wingman.  And so Maggie is forced to think about things that in her self-centered way had never occurred to her....All that she missed the first time around pushes her into being a better, more aware person, and gives her the gift of someone much better than Theo....

The app doesn't deliver it all in one day, so Maggie's real time life keeps getting knocked out of kilter by bits of new information, making her character growth more believable.  She has to work hard to process and act on what she learns, and though the reader might want to shake her (she's isn't very likeable for the first half of the book or so), she does get there in the end.

Michelle Mason is the author of Your Life Has Been Delayed, another fascinating and thought-provoking YA time slip/romance (my review), and I appreciated the interesting twist on time travel she's come with here too.  Maggie was really in the past, and the app had to poke her to keep her from changing things, so it was more than just watching a movie. The app isn't explained at all, and I can't help wonder why Maggie was the chosen one....

It's a really fun premise, well delivered, and the developing romance was sweet.  It was a fast and absorbing read, with the bonus of me wondering what I would do if I were Maggie, and what day I'd want to go back to if I were Maggie....and what I might learn.

The Edge of Forever, by Melissa E. Hurst

The Edge of Forever, by Melissa E. Hurst (Sky Pony, 2015), is a YA time-travel mystery, with a nascent romance, lots of secrets, nefarious goings on, and murder.  

In the future it's been discovered that some people possess a gene that allows them to time travel, and these people have been taken under the control of the government and trained as historical observers.  In 2146, 17-year-old Bridger is one of these being trained.  On a routine  school-time travel training trip, things go wrong-- he gets distracted by seeing his dead father in the crowd, and partly because of that, his partner is killed.  Now Bridger's determined to find out what his dad was doing at that time and place, and he finds that his father was trying to break the most fundamental rule of time travel.  He was trying to prevent the murder of a 16 year old American girl, Alora.

Back in 2013, Alora has started having blackouts, each time waking up in a different place.  That's not the only thing on her mind--her Aunt Grace is struggling to keep their property, and she has a mystery of her own--what happened to her parents?  A darker mystery is about to shake her community, when one of her classmates is murdered.  And who is the mysterious boy who's shown up unannounced?

It is, of course, Bridger, there illegally to save her from the fire that will claim her life, and maybe save his father in the process.  But he's three months too soon.  And so the two teens have plenty of time to tackle all the mysteries, before being hit at the end with the biggest and most dangerous surprise of all....

This is the sort of book that reminds me why "government/corporate controlled time travel in the future" is generally my least favorite time travel sub-genre.  It's often too confusing (in this case I was confused by aspects of the future world, and all the various jumpings around through time, but this could just be me) and often it's not as magically and emotionally compelling as happenstance time travel.  The fact that half the book is from Alora's realistic quotidian point of view (high school, family uncertainty, asshole boy, classmate murdered....), and that for most of Bridger's point of view he's also reacting to our present day world, with very little culture shock, did not make it more interesting for me.   

One the other hand, the mysteries were engaging, and the last third was gripping (all the answers come Bang at you at the end).   So if you think high school drama, murder, and sci-fi sound like fun, you might well enjoy it.


This stands alone just fine, but there is a sequel--On Through the Never, and though I didn't love this one, I might give it a try.....

Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman

Tess of the Road, by Rachel Hartman (Random House, YA, Feb. 2018), is the third book about an almost Europe with dragons (Seraphina, 2012, and Shadow Scale, 2015 being the first two). It is my favorite of the series.

Tess has always known she was flawed and bad; her mother made sure of this.  But she didn't mean to be.  Her twin, Jeanne, is the good girl, and her older sister, Seraphina, is the one who was seemingly immune to societal pressures, who managed to escape the limitations of expectations.  Tess is bad, and almost brought scandal to the family when she got pregnant as a young teen (averted by sending her away to distant family).  When the book begins, Tessa and Jeanne, now 17, are handmaidens to a noble lady at the court (thanks to Seraphina's string pulling) and Jeanne has found the perfect rich and lordly husband.  With that out of the way, Tess begins to think of escape from a life she cannot stand, no matter how much she drinks.

And then Seraphina gives her a pair of boots, beautiful, glossy, perfect boots for the adventures little Tess had imagined as a child.  And with nothing to loose, almost despite herself Tess walks out the door.

The voices in head, both the criticisms of others, the harsh scriptures her mother hammered her with, and her own memories of guilt and grief, go with her.  But she keeps going, barely.

"Walking on now," Tess told Mama-in-her-head, kicking dirt on last night's ashes.  "I think I'll live one more day."

(aside--typing that quote I am struck by the lovely metaphor, because kicking dirt, in this case the physical work of walking, and later hard labor, on memory ashes is exactly what Tess is doing.)

Then she meets Pathka, the reptilian Quigutl whose life she saved as a child, and Pathka's quest to find a the giant serpents integral to Quigutl cosmology becomes her own, and Pathka's company and support give her further impetus to keep going, and other stories to play through her head.  (It's fun for the reader, too, to spend time with a Quigutl as a main character...they are fascinating!)

It's not a grand adventure, but the encounters along the road give Tess a chance to rethink and recast both her past decisions and the things that were no fault of her own.   It's not always easy to keep her thoughts company, but if you like being challenged to introspection about culpability, the shaming of girls, horrible parenting, and religious brainwashing (not a slamming of religion qua religion, but repressively sexist scripture is one tool Tess's mother has beaten her horribly with),  it is totally worth it, and in the end, Tess does not have to question if she will keep going.  And as Tess and Pathka get closer to the great serpent of Pathka's dreaming, the canvas expands to let the numinous in, and compassion in, and the possibility that Tess's own dreams of discovery and adventure will come true.

Tess's backstory is told in flashbacks, continuing right to the end, as she faces her worst memories.  One of those memories is rape, a part of her story she is finally able to revisit when she finds a beautifully sex-positive relationship with one of Seraphina's old friends, who does not shame her, manipulate her, or hold her back from following her own path.

If you are looking for Dragons!  Excitement! Magic!  and the stereotypical kick-ass heroine, look elsewhere.   But if you want a thought-provoking, empowering, bittersweet story that will stick with you and leave you wanting the next book very badly that's filled with enough of the strange and fantastical to add considerable wonder,  I recommend this one lots.  Also if you are a fan of Seraphina, who's not a central character but who shows up quite a bit, you'll be interested in what she looks like to her little sister

Kirkus and I are in agreement:  "Like Tess’ journey, surprising, rewarding, and enlightening, both a fantasy adventure and a meta discourse on consent, shame, and female empowerment."

The Devil's Dreamcatcher, by Donna Hosie, review and interview for Timeslip Tuesday

The Devil's Dreamcatcher (Holiday House, YA, 2015) is the sequel to The Devil's Intern (my very enthusiastic review), which told how four young people confined to Hell (for not good reason--they aren't bad people) got ahold of the Devil's time travel device and used it to try to prevent their own deaths.  They weren't successful.  Now their more or less peaceful lives in Hell (the overcrowding is the most unbearable day to day torment) are disrupted again when the Devil's main lieutenant, a Roman General named Septimus, sends them on a second time travelling adventure outside of Hell--the Devil's Dreamcatcher, an innocent boy forced to serve as the vessel for the Devil's nightmares, has been stolen away, and must be brought back before insomnia drives the Devil truly over the edge.

The adventures that follow are told from the point of view of Medusa (known in life as Melissa), who is struggling to make sense of her past (it's complicated) and make sense of the task at hand.  The task at hand becomes even more complicated when a foursome of angels, including Jeanne of Arc, arrive on the same mission--finding the Devil's Dreamcatcher.  Angels and Devils end up having to cooperate, something especially hard for Jeanne, and friendships and loyalties are tested to the limits of (dead) human endurance as the eight-some struggles to make sense of the web of demonic lies in which they've been snared.

It really is quite complicated, and confusing at times, but I found that if I relaxed and just went with the flow of things, trusting that there would be explanations, I'd understand eventually. I did...more or less, and just in time to get to the end of the book, which sets things up for the next installment, an even more worrying adventure.    What makes this story work well is the focus on the friendships the characters have for each other, and their love and loyalty.  The depth of their caring for each other makes the reader care for them.  This book was perhaps less fun than the Devil's Intern, whose plot was more straightforward, but I was certainly glad to continue the adventure.

Note to Time Travel fans--The Devil's Intern is a solidly time travel book, but here time travel is more a means of moving the characters around, and less important in its own right. The characters jump from place and time lots, but don't linger long enough to enact all that meaningful with past times and peoples (although the people whose WW I England village they accidently set on fire might disagree).   So I wouldn't seek this one out if time travel is your main goal.

It's my pleasure today to welcome Donna Hosie; my questions are in red, her answers in black.

1.  Which came first, your vision of Hell in all its crowded hellishness or the characters that form the core of your story?  (and speaking of crowds, your Hell is basically an introvert’s worse nightmare!) 

Septimus came first, then The Devil. The first scene I ever wrote was with just the two of them, and as I wrote that, the world-building for Hell really started to take shape. As an Atheist, if you asked me what my idea of Hell was, I would say having to work in an office for the rest of eternity. That's my basis for this Hell. It's work, it's hot, it's overcrowded and claustrophobic. Hell is bureaucracy gone mad!

 

And you just know the Grim Reapers would send introverts to Hell instead of Up There!

2. Your characters come from several different time periods; did you pick periods you already knew something about, or did these decisions happen for creative reasons that then required you to go do research?

It's all creative. Medusa was the first character from Team DEVIL that I imagined. I knew straight away she was a 60s girl from San Francisco, but definitely not a stereotypical flower power girl. Alfarin came next, and I chose a Viking because my mum likes Vikings! Because there's a thousand years separating Medusa and Alfarin, I knew I needed a character who slipped into the middle of those two time periods. I did a lot of research on historical world events because I wanted a character whose death came about because of a specific moment in history. When I realised that the Great Fire of London was in 1666, all those sixes was too great a plot point to miss, and so Elinor was created. But I knew nothing about all three time periods and so research has been key to writing this series. Mitchell arrived last of all, and he's modern day, but even then I've had to research Washington DC for his back story. I love research though. As an English girl, I've grown up learning about culture and time and history. It's great fun to learn whilst I write.

3.  Do you have a favorite character?  If you do, are you more likely to spare their feelings in the story telling by easing their fictional path as best you can?

Mitchell is my favourite character. He's so well-meaning and loyal, even if he is clueless around girls! I have a lot of fun writing his scenes, but for some twisted reason, he is the one character I'm hardest on. He really gets put through some horrible events in book three, and what I do to him in book four (which I'm currently writing) is beyond comprehension! It doesn't pay to be liked by me!

4.  I see there's a third book in the pipeline, and that you’re working on the fourth.  Will there be more to the series, or do you find yourself thinking of some next thing?

Writing a book from each character's perspective was an idea I had before my agent even sold THE DEVIL'S INTERN, but I can't imagine finishing with this world until there has also been a book from Septimus's perspective, or at least with him as the MC. He's a former Roman general, The Devil's accountant and number one advisor, and his story arc becomes quite Machiavellian as you progress through the series. He's almost like my version of Dumbledore!

5. Do you find writing the first books in a series easier, because there's all the room in the fictional world for them to explore, or later books easier, because the characters' paths are clearer to you?

I find writing first books in a series harder because I don't plot. By the time I get to subsequent books in a series, I know my characters, their voice, and I have a rough idea of what horrors I want to do to them!

6.  I see on your website that you were a writer of fan fiction before you were published.  Has this had an effect on you as a writer or on your writing career?  Is it a path you'd recommend to young would-be writers, or would you discourage them from it?

I used to write about the Marauders, especially Lupin and Sirius who I shipped! It had no effect on my writing career, but it was great practice, so I wouldn't discourage anyone from doing it. In fact when I talk to schools, I suggest that as a route would-be writers go down. It's far easier to write about something you already love. You just have to stay respectful to intellectual property law and not profit from it.

Thank you Donna!  I will look forward with particular interest to Septimus's point of view!!!

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge

In order to get to Book Expo America, I had to take a train, and then lots of subway rides of some length, and so obviously I needed to take a book with me, one that would be strong enough so that even after I was distracted by the shinny and the new I would see it through to the end and be glad to have read it.

I chose well, and A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan, 2013 in the UK, ages 11-15ish) was my "what I am reading while at BEA" book (literally read at BEA, in snatched introverted down time, as well as in transit).  It was actually Brandy of Random Musings of a Bibliophile who chose well for me, because my copy was a gift from her, received long ago and put in the "clearly I will like this book lots so there is no hurry to read it" pile; a pile I find really obnoxious but hard to do anything about, other than to travel.....

A Face Like Glass take place inside a mountain burrowed through with caverns and tunnels and chambers providing enough space for a whole strange society to live in.   There is magic to the craft work of  those in power, that brings wealth to the world of Caverna; cheese that explodes, mind-manipulative perfumes and wines, and other wonders,  and there's also magic in Caverna herself; the tunnels don't all obey natural laws, and her cartographers all go mad....And the people of Caverna are strange as well, with faces that are still and expressionless as dolls.  Smiles and frowns must be taught, and cost money.

Into the world of Caverna, where the craft families have excessive wealth and claw at each other for power, and the drudges in the deep chambers starve, comes a little girl who is different.  Neverfell has no memory of her life before she's brought to the tunnels of a master cheesemaker.  She has no idea why her face shows what she thinks and feels, making her not just a freak and oddity, but a potential pawn in various political machinations.  She has no idea there are people who want to kill her...

But gradually the threads of her past and present untangle into a purpose, one she can't let show on her face...

It is both simple and complicated, and a really nice one to give to the smart older middle grade reader who wants more from their fantasy than straight up adventure.  It is a twisty one, with a lovely, fascinating, horrible setting, and a satisfying mystery (although I feel I could have guessed).   Sometimes Hardinge seems to appreciate her descriptions a smidge too much (which is to say, more than I did), but apart from that I can't in honesty say it should be any tighter or more compressed. 

I myself have appreciated, but not personally loved, the other books I've read by Hardinge, but this one was truly enjoyable.  Possibly because Neverfell is a very likeable character, and since everything is seen through her eyes, the experience of it all was likable by association....

Here is Brandy's own review; she loved it (which is why she was kind enough to send a copy my way--thank you Brandy!)

It doesn't seem to be out in the US yet...but it is well worth ordering from the UK!