Customer Reviews

Time Meddlers

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It's a snowy day in Ottawa's eastern suburbs. Having once again clashed with her father over leaving Toronto for "the wilderness" of the national capital, Sarah Sachs is in no mood for snow. She's in no mood for foolish surprises, either. Swirling flakes fail to hide the shock of her life - an SUV passes through a boy walking across the street toward her. This bizarre incident is but the beginning of a sequence of unexpected events. The boy, who proves rude and distant, is Sarah's neighbour and classmate. As "loners", they almost inevitably form a loose alliance. That connection will lead to an amazing adventure.

Deborah Jackson's last book, "The Ice Tomb", combined history, science and some well-drawn characters in a captivating story. Those characters, however, were all adults. Here, she follows a similar strategy, but for a younger audience. Sarah and Matt Barnes might be your youngster's classmates. Jackson captures their feelings about school, parents and the world around them with skilled perception. Sarah's folks have divorced, jolting the twelve-year-old's comfortable life. Matt's lost both of his, his father in an inexplicable way. Nathan Barnes has disappeared in time.

In pursuit of his father, Matt must deal with his cousin Nadine, who's running the house, the experiment Dr Barnes designed, and Matt's life. Fiercely protective of Dr Barnes' work, she proves the obstacle Matt and Sarah must dodge in their quest. In their efforts, the two children override caution, with unpredictable results. An eminent physicist, Nathan Barnes had developed a machine to cross time and space. Jackson here adapts current thinking among physicists that there are multiple universes, possibly accessed by tapping into something called "quantum foam". Within this foam space and time are indeterminate. You can go anywhere or anywhen. Thrust into the foam, Matt and Sarah are transported elsewhen. As city children, they must learn to cope with an entirely novel environment - and its inhabitants. How they survive and what results from their transportation makes gripping reading. They must prove flexible and innovative. Matt's relation to his father is the pivot point for the story's development, which Jackson handles with consummate skill. Even so, the conclusion of this book leads one to cry out for a sequel.

Science fiction has long held a fascination for young, inquisitive minds. What are the alternative possibilities to everyday life? Is the course of history locked in some pattern or can individuals truly have an impact on how events transpire? Jackson poses these questions admirably, showing how the young can act on their own initiative and maintain a set of effective values. These two clash with adults, with each other and with their peers. But they also learn reconciliation and cooperation between themselves and a larger community. They understand how today's actions lead to tomorrow's results, and selfish behaviour can be carried only so far. This book is valuable for many reasons and an excellent "stocking stuffer" for any young person. Adults should find it of more than passing interest.

[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Sarah Sachs is in the sixth grade. She and her dad moved from large Toronto to small Ottawa. As Sarah walks to her new school she is surprised to see a boy walk into the street without checking for oncoming vehicles. Her surprise turns into the first of many shocks when Sarah watches the skidding vehicle drive completely through the boy as if he was not there! This is how Sarah makes her first, though reluctant, friend Matt Barnes.

Professor Nathan Barnes is a famous scientist who has been missing since Matt's birth. Matt lives with his dad's assistant, Nadine, who is nice to him only when the public is looking. Matt wants nothing more than to know if his father is really alive somewhere or not. Sarah and Matt dive head-long into researching the answer.

The duo end up locating a machine that Dr. Barnes created for traveling into different eras. Before they know it, Sarah and Matt are dropped into the year 1615. Worse, they are in the middle of a war between the Algonquin and Iroquois notions. Knowing their own history, Matt wants to be a peace negotiator and halt the upcoming battles. This would save many lives. However, Sarah is not sure that Matt's idea is a good one since it could very well change history as they know it. If history changes, so will the future.

***** An extremely well done story that will have you rethinking your ideas on quantum theories. Though the tale involves multiple universes and the possibility of time travel, it is told in such a way that kids as young as the age of eight can easily understand everything. The book is recommended by the publisher for children between ages eight and twelve. However, I believe that young adults (teens) will highly enjoy the story as well.

The back of the book is filled with a short glossary, discussions for reading groups, and even some activities that could be done in the classroom. This novel is so exciting that kids will probably not even realize how much they are learning. Excellent! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Sara Sachs is switching schools in the middle of sixth grade and does not want to be in Ottawa. She wants to be with her mom not in what she calls the wilderness with her dad. She is shocked when on the way to school her first day she sees a car drive right through a kid. Sara is very interested in what this boy is like because of what she saw. She soon finds out that Matt is the son a very famous scientist. Sara wants to meet his dad but Matt has never even seen him. His father disappeared when Matt was born. Together Sara and Matt figure out that Matt's father knows the secret to time travel and figure that he is stuck in another time and they are determined to bring him back to the present. Will Sara and Matt be able to bring his dad back? Read the book and find out!

***** This is an excellent story. If you like adventure or time travel books, you will love this book. Once your start reading you will not be able to put it down! *****

Reviewed by Brandon Stabler. Age 14.

Sixth grader Sarah Sachs is not happy living in Ottawa with her father a member of parliament while her mother is back in Toronto working at the job she loves. Sarah also misses her friends but on the first day of school, she notices a boy who lives in her housing complex. They walk together but don't talk. When a car hits the boy, it goes right through him leaving him unharmed. At school he sits next to her and she learns his name is Matt Barnes.

Sarah learns that Matt Barnes' father is a famous archeologist who has made new discoveries all across the world but he never comes home to see his son; Matt lives with Nadine, his father's cruel assistant. Later after much brainstorming, Matt and Sarah break in to his father's lab for some answers, but Nadine catches them. She tells them Matt's father is back in time in one of the universes of the multiverse and he can travel through time but can't come home. Nadine throws Sarah and Matt back in time to when the Algonquin and Mohawk tribes were at war with each other. They do their best to warn both tribes to be wary of the whites and what to do to preserve their culture. They want to find a way back to their own time and to extract Matt's father from wherever he is as they now know Nadine did to him what she did to them.

Time traveling fans that enjoy history will take pleasure in the appropriately named TIME MEDDLER'S because the protagonists try to change history so that the Indians aren't taken advantage of by the Dutch, English and French. Nadine is a wicked villainess whom readers will love to hate as they root for the protagonists to find a way to achieve their goals including returning to their time. Deborah Jackson is a wonderful storyteller who draws her audience into her tale.

Harriet Klausner