I've always been obsessed with time travel, which transcends science fiction and offers ways to experience and reinterpret history, explore philosophical ideas, comment on the past, and imagine the future. I love the possibilities for humor and character development and plot twists across every genre and audience. One feature of all of the books Iāve chosen for this list is that theyāre about contemporary young people and grounded in real lives, and time travel happens in all sorts of ways: through magical, mysterious forces, an app, tap shoes, a diary, a rideshare vehicle. Iām less interested in imaginary worlds and more fascinated by the way time travel can shed light on our own times.
I adored this novella from 2021 and the made-for-TV movie based on it.
Seventeen-year-old Mark is trapped in a Groundhog-day-like time loop with no real desire to break out of a situation that releases him from looming responsibilities. Then he meets evanescent and brilliant fellow time-looper Margaret, and the two set out to discover the wonders of the eternal day in which theyāre stuck.
The story is charming, funny, and sweet. It was released during the pandemic at a time when a lot of us felt stuck in our own time loops, and its attention to detail and moving discovery of Margaretās dark secret prompted me to appreciate the tiny perfect moments of my own seemingly endless and repetitive days.
I especially loved the edgy voice and sensibility of cynical protagonist Andi Alpers, who is struggling with grief over the loss of her younger brother and anger at her parentsā difficulty in handling their sorrow.
Her only real refuge is her passion for music. Forced to go with her father to Paris during a school break, she discovers the diary of a young woman from the past, Alexandrine, with whom she feels a strong connection.
I found both Andi and Alexandrine to be relatable, well-drawn characters, and I couldnāt put this book downāespecially during the spooky scenes in the Paris catacombs where past and present blur.
Readers of If I Stay and Elizabeth George will love Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, author of the award-winning novel A Northern Light. Revolution artfully weaves two girlsā stories into one unforgettable account of life, loss, and enduring love; it spans centuries and vividly depicts the eternal struggles of the human heart.
BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. Sheās angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And sheās about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heightsāā¦
Deputy Jenna Hart has only been working in her sleepy hometown of Pearl Springs for seven months when city officials begin to be targeted by a killer. Twenty years ago, the construction of a dam caused people to lose their land to eminent domain. That wound has not healed withā¦
It may be obvious by now that Iām drawn to stories about complex characters, stories that arenāt afraid to be both humorous and gut wrenching.
Fourteen-year-old Nephele is another protagonist whose voice is immediately endearing, refreshing, and compelling. Sheās an outsider, a brilliant math and science nerd who struggles to adjust socially to high school.
She invents a time travel app in order to relive her freshman year and do it rightābut instead she becomes stuck in a time loop for ten years, encountering characters and surprises that help her to overcome her loneliness and find herself.
I love it that this book celebrates a smart, quirky character as she learns to look more deeply into her life and navigate her world.
When Nephele has a terrible freshman year, she does the only logical thing for a math prodigy like herself: she invents a time travel app so she can go back and do it again (and again, and again) in this funny love story, Groundhog Day for the iPhone generation.
Fourteen-year-old Nephele used to have friends. Well, she had a friend. That friend made the adjustment to high school easily, leaving Nephele behind in the process. And as Nephele looks ahead, all she can see is three very lonely years.
Nephele is also a whip-smart lover of math and science, soā¦
Iām cheating a little here, since protagonist Ailey Benjamin Lane is not quite a teenagerāheās only eleven.
But I love how this book celebrates danceāAiley is a tap dancer with big dreams whose grandfather had similar, though thwarted, talents and dreams. And I love the window into Black history in 1930s Harlem when, feeling discouraged, Ailey puts on what turn out to be a pair of magical shoes and is transported to the past, where he meets his twelve-year-old grandfather.
Ailey is faced with the classic time traveler dilemma of wanting to help his grandfather overcome his fears while avoiding changing the past so much that it will affect Aileyās own future.
I learned from this bookāand since I was writing about gymnastics, time travel, and the fraught history of adoption politics, I found this book a wonderful model for evoking a passion, a culture, and a history.
Journey back to 1939 Harlem in this time-travel adventure with an empowering message about believing in yourself and persevering. Eleven-year-old Ailey Benjamin Lane, a gifted dancer, is certain that he'll land the role of the Scarecrow in his school s production of The Wiz. But when a classmate overshadows him at auditions, a deflated Ailey confides in his Grampa that he is going to give up dancing. Not ready to give up on Ailey, Grampa shares a story from his past. As a young boy, Grampa gave up his dreams of tap dancing even after the unofficial Mayor of Harlem,ā¦
To hide a corporationās failure to properly service a space ship, Captain Jonas Stryker is prosecuted but saved from imprisonment by a dying man, who hires Stryker to collect asteroids for their mineral content. Stryker soon finds he must stop a shadowy corporate group called The Board, who employ spaceā¦
This book was released a couple of days before my list was due, but I was captivated by the description of it as āBack to the Future meets Joy Luck Club.ā And Throwbackengaged me immediately.
I sped through the story of Samantha Kang who, unable to connect to her mom and worried about her grandmotherās health, finds herself thrown back from 2025 to 1995. There, she gets to know her teenage mom and her grandmother in a whole new way.
The contrasts between the post-pandemic gender-fluid TikTok generation and the regressive attitudes of the analog 1990s are brilliantly highlighted, Samās social-media savvy voice pitch-perfect, her observations about race, class, gender, pop culture, and being the child and grandchild of immigrants incisive and provocative, humorous and relatable.
I was glad I waited for this novel before I completed my list!
"No one can blend family, humor, satire, and love into a single perfect story like Maurene Goo can . . ." - Marie Lu, No.1 New York Times bestselling author
Samantha Kang has always butted heads with her mom, Priscilla, who is a first-generation Korean American, a former high school cheerleader and expects Sam to want the same all-American nightmare. Meanwhile, Sam is a girl of the times who has no energy for cliched high school aspirations. After a huge fight, Sam is desperate to get away from Priscilla, but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.
When faltering teen gymnast Elizabeth Arlington discovers a secret about her past, she turns to her ex-best-friend Zach and a time machine to find the truth. As she catapults through time, she encounters a mysterious abandoned child, an elite gymnast preparing for Olympic Trials, an enigmatic woman who seems to know more than sheās tellingāand a thief who makes off with her time machine, threatening to strand her in the past or even erase her existence. In this fast-paced novel, Elizabethās attempt to unravel a mystery and find the thief before itās too late takes her to the 1988 Olympic Trials, where she must perform the vault of her life to save her loved ones and herself.
Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. Itās 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.
Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because heā¦
Roman mythology stampedes into the present as the Gods of Elysium wake up after two thousand years sleeping from a spell gone wrong. Hell breaks loose on Earth as demons from Hades wreck havoc in a war against the mortals that threatens to start a war between the Gods themselves.ā¦