A Kiss in Time [Hardcover]

Alex Flinn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Talia fell under a spell . . . . Jack broke the curse.

I was told to beware the accursed spindle, but it was so enchanting, so hypnotic. . . .

I was looking for a little adventure the day I ditched my tour group. But finding a comatose town, with a hot-looking chick asleep in it, was so not what I had in mind.

I awakened in the same place but in another time—to a stranger's soft kiss.

I couldn't help kissing her. Sometimes you just have to kiss someone. I didn't know this would happen.

Now I am in dire trouble because my father, the king, says I have brought ruin upon our country. I have no choice but to run away with this commoner!

Now I'm stuck with a bratty princess and a trunk full of her jewels. . . . The good news: My parents will freak!

Think you have dating issues? Try locking lips with a snoozing stunner who turns out to be 316 years old. Can a kiss transcend all—even time?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the same vein as Flinn's Beastly, this clever and humorous retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" follows an aimless American boy who awakens a princess who has been slumbering for 300 years. Jack is on a European tour mandated by his parents ("What they don't tell you about Europe is how completely lame it is") when he breaks an ancient curse by kissing the slumbering Princess Talia. Instead of rejoicing, she and other awakened members of their magical kingdom are confused and perturbed to find themselves in the 21st century. In order to escape the wrath of her father, who blames her for causing the curse, Talia flees with Jack to his home in Florida. While acclimating to the modern world-cell phones, television, Jell-o shots-the princess manages to charm everyone she meets and help Jack sort out his life. Alternating between the teenagers' distinctive points of view, Flinn skillfully delineates how their upbringings set them apart while drawing parallels between their family conflicts. Fans of happily-ever-after endings will delight in the upbeat resolution, which confirms the notion that "love conquers all." Ages 12-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—An agreeable, fluffy expansion of "Sleeping Beauty," this novel conflates the traditional story with that of an American teenage boy. Talia (the princess) has the world's most overprotective parents—not without reason, of course. Seventeen-year-old Jack's parents think about him only when they are criticizing him. When he awakens Talia with a kiss, she is thrust more than 300 years into a future in the 21st century. The learning curve is steep (and not entirely consistent) but readers will laugh at the pair's escapades as they depart Europe for Florida, try to pass Talia off as a modern Belgian girl, and come to new understandings with their respective parents. No more than fun, but plenty of that.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060874198
• ISBN-13: 978-0060874193
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #565,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alex Flinn was born in Syosset, New York. She learned to read at three and wanted to be a writer at five. She received her first rejection letter (from Highlights magazine) at eight. At twelve, her family moved to Miami, Florida, where she had a really hard time making friends, due to congenital shyness and a really bad haircut. So she read a lot and tried to write a novel but never finished because she had no idea what to write about.

Flinn attended a performing arts high school program, similar to that portrayed in her book, Diva, then majored in vocal performance in college. Panicked upon realizing that there weren't a whole lot of jobs for opera singers, Flinn went to law school.

Law school was, it turns out a really good place to learn to write for teenagers. Writing for teens and writing for judges are very similar because both judges and teens have a lot of demands on their time and minimal time for reading. Also, Flinn interned at the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, trying many domestic violence cases, which were later the inspiration for her first novel, Breathing Underwater.

Breathing Underwater was published in 2001. It received many honors, including being chosen a Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association. It was followed by Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black, Diva, and Beastly. Beastly is soon to be released as a motion picture. Her newest book is A Kiss in Time, a modern Sleeping Beauty.

Flinn still lives in Miami with her husband, two daughters, a dog, cat, and African Spur-Thighed Tortoise. She enjoys performing arts, biking, and travel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power Nap, June 7, 2009

By 

Joyce Sweeney "Picture Book Lover" (Coral Springs, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Kiss in Time (Hardcover)

Alex Flinn has really hit her stride with fairy tale retellings! I loved Beastly and I love A Kiss in Time! This sleeping beauty is an amazing character, who goes believable from spoiled brat to true heroine as she wakes up in the 21st Century and copies with everything from air travel to Jello shots in a matter of weeks. What I like best is that this one features a really great love story, where the love is not about a magical kiss but a true friendship. Like Beastly, this one features a really cool witch who has real depth and lots of tricks up her sleeve.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Hip Fairy Tale, September 28, 2009

By 

Whatcha Reading Now? (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Kiss in Time (Hardcover)

Talia is a spoiled princess who has seriously overslept...oh, by about 316 years.

Jack is a jeans and t-shirt guy from Miami who just wants a break from another lame European museum tour.

When Jack kisses Talia in this re-telling of Sleeping Beauty what readers get is a series of hilarious situations coupled with a sweet, it-can't-possibly-work romance.

This is my favorite book by Alex Flinn and I hope she's hard at work on her next 21st century fairy tale!
--Reviewed by Michelle Delisle

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't Hit the Mark For Me, November 12, 2009

By 

Alexandra Cenni "Poisoned Rationality" (hamilton, nj USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Kiss in Time (Hardcover)

Like Flinn's other young adult novel I read (Beastly) this is a fairy tale re-done and modernized. In this case its 'Sleeping Beauty' and I definitely feel less of a Disney vibe from this (for some reason Beastly put me in mind of the Disney Beauty and the Beast, not the fairy tale itself). I do admit however that Sleeping Beauty was never a popular fairy tale for me growing up--it didn't seem like the Princess did anything at all, but she got herself a Prince. It seemed terribly unfair to me.

The book itself is broken up into 3 Parts--Part 1: Talia (before the curse), Part 2: Jack (before he broke the curse) and then Part 3 Talia and Jack (after the curse is broken), with Part 1 and 2 being told in first person from Talia or Jack's POV and the third part alternating back and forth between them.

At first Talia annoyed me--she really did seem like the obnoxious brat her companion, Lady Brooke, accused her of being. For instance for her 16th birthday she wanted the PERFECT gown to celebrate so her father orders in 25 different dressmakers to create 20 different dresses all in her particular size. She is very rude to most of them out loud and even worse mentally. I was kind of happy when she got cut down to size by the witch Malvoila.

Then I met Jack and any annoyances I had towards Talia went out the window. Jack is every worse teenage stereotype all rolled up into one (for much of the book at least). He's in Europe, on a vacation across the continent and all he does is complain about how its not all topless beaches and sleazy euro-trash celebrities in cafes. He's visiting all sorts of museums and while he's sort of interested, he's too busy trying to get to the topless beaches to really care.

The two of them together is humorous--its kind of a test of wills to see who can outdo the other in sheer brattiness. Talia at least has a decent reason--she's a Princess after all and let's face it traditionally raised royal children in fairy tales are not sweet, generous and used to trials. Jack seems to mostly want to embrace his inner angst muffin status and be left alone to sulk about his misfortunes and ruined summer.

In the end I wasn't as interested in this book as I was in Beastly and its style (I really did like the chat room sessions for all of the unfortunate transformed kids), plus with both leads vying to annoy me the most I didn't want them together. The world would implode came to mind a few times.