Why am I passionate about this?

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 Iā€™ve chosen for this list is that theyā€™re 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. Iā€™m less interested in imaginary worlds and more fascinated by the way time travel can shed light on our own times.


I wrote

Vaulting Through Time

By Nancy McCabe,

Book cover of Vaulting Through Time

What is my book about?

When faltering teen gymnast Elizabeth Arlington discovers a secret about her past, she turns to her ex-best-friend Zach and aā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

Nancy McCabe Why did I love this book?

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 theyā€™re 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 Margaretā€™s dark secret prompted me to appreciate the tiny perfect moments of my own seemingly endless and repetitive days. 

Book cover of Revolution

Nancy McCabe Why did I love this book?

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 couldnā€™t put this book downā€”especially during the spooky scenes in the Paris catacombs where past and present blur.

By Jennifer Donnelly,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Revolution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14.

What is this book about?

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. Sheā€™s 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 sheā€™s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heightsā€™ā€¦


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Book cover of Deadly Revenge

Deadly Revenge by Patricia Bradley,

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€¦

Book cover of Time Travel for Love and Profit

Nancy McCabe Why did I love this book?

It may be obvious by now that Iā€™m drawn to stories about complex characters, stories that arenā€™t afraid to be both humorous and gut wrenching.

Fourteen-year-old Nephele is another protagonist whose voice is immediately endearing, refreshing, and compelling. Sheā€™s 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 rightā€”but 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. 

By Sarah Lariviere,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Time Travel for Love and Profit as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

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€¦


Book cover of The Magic in Changing Your Stars

Nancy McCabe Why did I love this book?

Iā€™m cheating a little here, since protagonist Ailey Benjamin Lane is not quite a teenagerā€”heā€™s only eleven.

But I love how this book celebrates danceā€”Ailey 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 Aileyā€™s own future.

I learned from this bookā€”and 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.

By Leah Henderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Magic in Changing Your Stars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

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€¦


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Book cover of Spoliation

Spoliation by Ian J. Miller,

To hide a corporationā€™s 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€¦

Book cover of Throwback

Nancy McCabe Why did I love this book?

This book was released a couple of days before my list was due, but I was captivated by the description of it as ā€œBack to the Future meets Joy Luck Club.ā€ And Throwback engaged me immediately.

I sped through the story of Samantha Kang who, unable to connect to her mom and worried about her grandmotherā€™s 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, Samā€™s 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!

By Maurene Goo,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Throwback as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

"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.

To her shock,ā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Vaulting Through Time

By Nancy McCabe,

Book cover of Vaulting Through Time

What is my book about?

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 sheā€™s tellingā€”and 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, Elizabethā€™s attempt to unravel a mystery and find the thief before itā€™s 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.

Book cover of The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Book cover of Revolution
Book cover of Time Travel for Love and Profit

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