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evamadera1 's review for:
The First State of Being
by Erin Entrada Kelly
I can see why this book won the Newberry award. The majority of the narrative takes place in late summer 1999, a time I remember well since at that time I was only a year or so older than the main character. (That makes it historical fiction for the target age range; yes, I feel old saying that.) The other, much smaller portions, take place approximately 200 years in the future, written in transcript format which is the only downside to the audiobook. (The narrator ends up reading out the names of the speaking character each time someone new speaks.) The main character (say it with me ... whose name I have forgotten) spends the summer worrying about the possible impending Y2K crisis, stockpiling shoplifted canned goods, making sure to have some of his mom's favorites. He also worries about, and feels responsible for their lack of money, blaming himself for his mom's firing from her former job because she stayed home to take care of him when he had the flue; she now works three jobs to make ends meet. Enter into the picture a new character who should not be there, a character who came from the other timeline on a dare, and because he wanted to see a real mall. Together, along with the main character's only slightly older babysitter/crush, they try to fulfill the time traveler's wish and to help him return home. This story was beautiful and brilliant. I love how Entrada Kelly wove all of this together.