I’ve always enjoyed stories that span across generations or multiple timelines, showing us how the past impacts the present, and unraveling age-old mysteries as the narrative unfolds. In school, I enjoyed history and anthropology for this reason. My own books also play around with this topic, whether it’s a decades-old curse or a snow globe that travels back in time. I hope you enjoy this selection of favorites as much as I have!
I wrote...
No Ordinary Thing
By
G.Z. Schmidt
What is my book about?
Time traveling is no ordinary thing, but that’s what awaits 12-year-old Adam when he finds a snow globe that allows him to journey into the past. The snow globe whisks Adam from his home and introduces him to a succession of unusual characters along the way. Strangely, each individual seems to have a past that is interwoven with Adam’s own.
100 years ago in the streets of New York City, the famous magician and candlemaker extraordinaire Elbert the Excellent hopes to dazzle the world with his magic, but instead stumbles upon a mysterious entity known as “the time touch.” As the two storylines unravel, they reveal a single thread that ties Adam and Elbert’s pasts together.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Holes
By
Louis Sachar
Why this book?
This Newbery classic is one of my favorite childhood books. I love stories where the past unravels mysteries about the future. Holes does this through a frame story format, and several mysteries are unveiled this way, including an age-old family curse and a thriving lake that dries up into a ghost town. The book covers a multitude of deep themes, including redemption, love, and family, and is one of the few children’s books I often reflect on as an adult.
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The Night Gardener
By
Jonathan Auxier
Why this book?
This spooky novel revolves around an old manor with a tree rooted right inside its walls. The book wastes no time getting into the heart of the mystery, which mixes folklore and the fantastical. The tree, it turns out, is a dark variation of Shel Silverstein’s Giving Tree. It grants the wisher what they want…at a cost. This clever, creepy tale shows us that what we want is not always what we need.
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A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning
By
Lemony Snicket,
Brett Helquist
Why this book?
Laced with literary allusions to famous poems and works, this series follows three intrepid orphans through misadventure after misadventure. Behind it all is a constant reference to a schism that happened in the past, which is the cause behind their parents’ demise. As someone who grew up in a household that spoke Mandarin, this series helped me learn a lot of English literary colloquialisms and idioms, such as “to follow suit” or “takes the cake.” The author does not shy away from dark topics, balancing them with the right amount of irony and humor.
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11 Birthdays
By
Wendy Mass
Why this book?
Two best friends, Amanda and Leo, have spent every one of their birthdays together until a falling out between the two. Then, on their eleventh birthday, they realize they’re stuck reliving the same day… over and over again! The two ex-friends must work together to trace the root behind this bizarre magic that’s only affecting them. A Groundhog Day pitched at kids, 11 Birthdays perfectly captures the trials and anxiety of friendships at that age. Growing up, I moved schools a lot; the longest I’ve lived in a place was five years. Unfortunately, this meant a lot of my friendships often faded due to distance. Because of this, I always enjoy reading about friends who have known each other since they were toddlers.
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When You Reach Me
By
Rebecca Stead
Why this book?
Another Newbery favorite of mine, When You Reach Me uses time travel as a side plot. The main character, a sixth-grader named Miranda, begins noticing strange things, including several mysterious notes left in her backpack. What really makes this book stand out is how it captures the main character’s insecurities of growing up in a tiny apartment with her single mother. I could relate to Miranda’s struggles because my family was also poor when I was growing up, and I was always in awe when I visited my friends’ enormous houses for sleepovers. The book deftly explores class, race, and prejudice in an accessible way.
