Tag Archives: Time travel

May27

The Monkey Who Fell from the Future – Ross Welford

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Harper Collins

March 2023

  • ISBN: 9780008544744
  • ISBN 10: 0008544743
  • Imprint: HarperCollins GB
  • List Price: 16.99 AUD

A new Ross Welford novel is always a treat, and this is no exception. His time-travelling escapades are always full of adventure, tension and humour, and at the same time, they are thought-provoking. This one ticks all those boxes again.

In 2425 the Earth is barely recognisable. It has, for the most part, reverted to wild nature after a cataclysmic meteor event in the 21st century. This did not create widespread destruction, being relatively small in size, but did bring it with it a mystery virus which rendered most of the global population infertile. With less and less children being born, and therefore, a smaller population overall, highly urbanised life as we would know it gradually disappeared.

Ocean lives in the future in a small fishing village, near what is now Newcastle-on-Tyne and when Monsieur Lumière, his nephew, Duke, and Pierre the monkey arrive with a fantastical travelling show revealing artefacts of the ‘Wonder Age’, she is completely entranced, but also sceptical of their plan to secure a ‘Time Tablet’ buried in 2023.

In 2023 Thomas is annoyed that his Australian cousin, Kylie, has arrived to live with his family, as she is going to attend a fancy school for super-brilliant kids. He certainly doesn’t plan on her whacky invention of a Time Tablet being able to do anything, let alone allow people to communicate with the future.

What is set in motion is a kind of exchange, with Kylie and Thomas finding themselves in 2425, while Ocean and Pierre are stranded in the 2023 they’ve left behind. Naturally, there is also a villain involved here. Duke’s vicious step-father is after the Time Tablet as it contains the last viable silicon chip in existence.

It’s a roller coaster adventure from start to finish with so much going on to love. The quirky language and vocabulary that has evolved in the future setting, the stereotypical TV hosts of the present, Ocean’s suspicious and sceptical Nanny Moo, and Monsieur Lumière’s charming excitability for a start.

There is a lot of food for thought here about the positives and negatives of modern life, and the opportunity to speculate on ‘what if’ would give rise to some really rich discussions., e.g. would a plastic bottle of water still be viable after 400 years?

You may wonder at my timing for this review but if I tell you that among this cast of memorable characters, Kylie – full name: Kylene Toora Woollagong is a First Nations girl, it should be clearer. Thomas’ Aboriginal ‘mega-brain’cousin is a stand-out character, and I love that. Well played, Ross!

There are some wonderful themes to explore here around family relationships, urban life versus slow living, and perceptions of people and places. Thomas’ and Kylie’s initial discord is certainly smoothed over by the time they have survived the future with wild boars and even wilder step-fathers, not to mention a very unpleasant librarian while Ocean and Nanny Moo find themselves with a new family, which includes one very lucky monkey.

Your kiddos who have enjoyed Ross’ previous books will be eager to get their hands on this and if your readers have not yet discovered this talented storyteller, this would make a great serial read for them. Highly recommended for kiddos from around 10 upwards.

May3

The Mud Puddlers – Pamela Rushby

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Walker Books Australia

April 2023

ISBN13:9781760655808

Australia RRP:$16.99

New Zealand RRP:$18.99

This ticks all my boxes in one fell swoop and I absolutely loved it. Mudlarking has long been a source of fascination for me and I would truly have loved the opportunity to explore it for myself.

Now Pamela Rushby has combined this iconic London activity with thrilling time slip experiences and at the same time crafted a very real and poignant narrative about family relationships. Nina loves her Aunty Bee, who is an ‘intertidal archaeologist’ living on a restored barge moored near Tower Bridge. What she doesn’t love is the feeling of complete rejection she has when her scientist parents both go to Antarctica for a year and send her to London to live with Bee.

At first fiercely determined not to enjoy anything, nor to communicate with her parents more than absolutely necessary, Nina finds herself drawn into the magic and mystery of the Thames and mud puddling, but with a very unnerving discovery. It appears she has a gift. If she looks too long or intently at one of the artefacts she finds, she is ‘transported’ back to that period of time, and as she finds out from old Molly, Bee’s barge neighbour, who has the same gift, this can be very dangerous.

After some near misses, and ignoring advice, Nina takes one last trip into the past, at the height of the Blitz, with evacuees and the very possibility of never making it back to her own time.

It is a fascinating look at both the history and hobby of mud larking, as well as the rich history of the Thames over centuries, and at the same time is very relatable story of the intense egocentric emotions of a tween girl, how she comes to terms with her parents’ decision, and reconciles her anguish over it.

There is no doubt in my mind that young readers will lap this up, even those who are not necessarily big fans of historical fiction because the very different setting overall (the barge, Nina’s online International School, inner city London) will capture their imagination for sure.

Tired as I was after the house move last Saturday, I managed to read this over two nights because I was thoroughly invested in Nina’s story (and the mud larking!). Pamela Rushby’s research for her historical novels is always impeccable so this will provide much rich fodder for further investigations and discussions with readers.

I highly recommend it for your kiddos from about ten years old.

Mud-larking

In Search of Treasure in London’s
Riverine Mud

Aug31

It’s Not You, It’s Me – Gabrielle Williams

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Allen & Unwin

August 2021

ISBN: 9781760526078P

Imprint: A & U Children

RRP: $19.99

Yes, that tag line – Freaky Friday meets Pretty Little Liars – really hits the mark. This is one helluva time-travel that not just the life-swap but the cities/continents/decades swap as well! And what a ride it is, especially when there’s a serial killer thrown into the mix.

Holly Fitzgerald, of Melbourne, has just finished celebrating her 40th birthday lunch with friends when she wakes up on a footpath – make that, sidewalk – in LA in the body of a 16-year-old girl named Trinity. Literally, what the……? Holly stumbles her way through meeting a neighbour (cute boy – Australian, coincidentally), going to her ‘home’ and then adjusting to a ‘family’ whilst feverishly trying to piece together what on earth has happened to her, and how – and most of all, where then is Trinity?

The one resonant fact shared between her actual life and this strange 1980s faux life in LA is an orange Brother typewriter – second-hand and vintage in Melbourne but shiny and new here in Los Angeles. Of course, the odd synchronicity of a Holly Hobbie doll, identical to one she was given as a newborn, being on Trinity’s bed does strike her as a little strange as well.

When Brother Orange, the typewriter, starts delivering furious messages from Trinity, trapped in what she scornfully refers to as Holly’s boring, middle-aged existence and demanding the situation be fixed, Holly needs to work through a lot of unanswered questions about her past, her life and the connections between herself and Trinity’s family. – and at the same time, save both their lives from the Mariposa Murderer.

This is, by turns, hilarious and clever, fascinating and frightening, but above all a real page-turner as the reader demands to know what on earth is going on and why. There is a smattering of swearing which may bother you for your younger secondary readers but mature readers from 13 or 14 upwards who enjoy a thrilling narrative will relish this one as it explores the eternal questions of ‘what if’ in a very original and engaging manner. Oh, and absolutely stunning cover art!

Highly recommended for Year 8 upwards – it will be on my list for my next ChocLit meeting for sure!

Jun1

The Boy Who Stepped Through Time – Anna Ciddor

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Allen & Unwin

ISBN:9781760526443

Publisher:A&U Children’s

Imprint:A & U Children

Pub Date:June 2021

RRP: $16.99

Once again Anna Ciddor has crafted an historical narrative that will both entertain her readers with humour, drama, terrific characters and exciting storylines, and inform them with fascinating, and no doubt, previously unknown facts about life in Ancient Rome. Perry, leaves his family holiday in modern-day France behind , when he accidentally travels back 1700 years to a Gaul occupied by the Romans, . While that in itself would be quite shocking and unsettling, it is even more disturbing for the boy to discover he is a merely a lowly slave, in the household of a quite wealthy family.

Whisked from crumbling ruins in the 21st century, where his family are enjoying a festival celebrating the Roman history of the locale, Perry finds himself in the original Villa Rubia, and – due to his mum’s choice of festival costume for him – mistaken for the new slave boy, expected to carry out the most menial of tasks, sleep in what is basically just a hut and eat the most unappetising of foods, including mice!

Apart from his complete ignorance in not only the ways of ancient Roman households but obviously also the expectations of a slave boy, Perry struggles in his forced adaptation to his new circumstances as he attempts to find a way to return to the present. But his longing to be back with his family is tempered by his growing attachment to his new friends, particularly Camilla Valentia, daughter of the household – about whom, Perry has foreknowledge of her fate, having seen her tomb during his present-day holiday.

Your readers will love this for the adventure and the friendship theme but also the fascinating tidbits about life in ancient Rome – be it wine-making, daily meals, dress, the vernacular expressions, school or other customs. They will also feel deeply Perry’s frustration as he tries every conceivable option to get back to his real life and family.

I have already talked this one up with my ChocLit group – coincidentally our Year 7s are just finishing off their first History unit of inquiry on ancient civilisations so they were rather excited about it. Highly recommended for your readers from around Year 5 upwards.