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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this a lot. A different set of time travel mechanics than I've seen before. I'll be thinking about this for a while
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh, I love all of this! Michael (and the reader) learns some very valuable lessons about living in the moment, the futility of obsessing over the future, and paying kindness forward. I also loved the hints about what happened to our 1999 characters and the reassurance that a small act can have long-lasting repercussions.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Two days before Christmas, I was chatting on the phone with my sister. She was telling me about a book that she had read. She mentioned that she had bought me a copy and asked if it had arrived yet. It had not, but while I was talking with her Amazon delivered it. As soon as I finished the book I was reading, I picked it up as my first new read of 2025.
This is a middle grade book about a boy named Michael Rosario. He lives alone with his mother in an apartment complex in 1999. He is concerned about the Y2K problem. While talking with his babysitter (which he thinks he doesn't need and who he has a crush on), they notice a strangely dressed young man who seems out of place. Something just seems "off". The reader learns pretty quickly that this young man is from the future. Michael and his babysitter decide to befriend and help him, even though they aren't sure they believe him.
I really enjoyed this book. It is an easy, quick read. The characters feel realistic. There is a touching relationship between Michael and the apartment complex's handyman. Michael and his mother are close, too. In fact, as so often happens with single moms and sons, Michael feels the need to take care of her in some ways. It is sweet. And the time travel aspect reminded me a bit of Back to the Future but has its own clever twist on the dilemma of time paradoxes. Well done and worth the time to read.
My rating: 4/5
AUDIOBOOK
Wow, wow, WOW. Such an interesting story about time travel, it was such a quick and easy read, loved the characters, and the little twist at the end shocked me! Loved how everything was tied together as well.
Wow, wow, WOW. Such an interesting story about time travel, it was such a quick and easy read, loved the characters, and the little twist at the end shocked me! Loved how everything was tied together as well.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
This was by definition a very good middle grades scifi novel about time travel and social/environmental issues around the year 2000. The characters and story just didn’t resonate with me, despite being 13 at the turn of the century.