Throwback

Throwback

Peter Lerangis

HarperCollins, 2019 340 pages

Grades 5-8

Contemporary Fantasy

Throwback series #1

Its Halloween and Corey is expected to go to the school dance with his friend Leila. While he waits in her upper west side apartment he thinks he spots his grandfather across the street in Central Park. This wouldn't be too weird-except that Grandpa has been missing for quite some time. Corey learns, quite by accident, that Grandpa is a time traveler and that he is a long-time member of the Knickerbocker Club: a group of individuals who can hop through time or "Throwback". Corey discovers that he shares this ability. By holding metal from a certain time period he can travel to that time in the exact location in which he is standing. Does this mean that he can travel back to September 11, 2001 and save his grandmother from the bombing of the World Trade Center? Grandpa says it's impossible and that he has tried, but Corey is determined to give it a go. After a failed attempt Corey finds himself in 1917, where he gets robbed by a gang and may be forced to stay. Meanwhile, Leila discovers interesting things among her missing great-aunt's belongings. Could she be a throwback as well? Is it truly impossible to change history? Will Corey ever return to the present? All of these questions and more are answered within the pages of this exciting series opener.

I love me a time travel book. In fact, I think it is my favorite genre, although they often make my head hurt--in a delicious way. The interesting questions in my mind when I pick-up a time travel story is: through what means will the characters travel through time and will they be able to change the past? In this case, both questions are answered in a realistic and satisfying way. I fell into this story and found the time travel conceivable. Readers will enjoy the time jumping and will walk away knowing a bit about past New York City, reminiscent of Time and Again, the adult classic by Jack Finney,--light. There is plenty of action, excitement and plot twists to keep readers turning pages. The narrative switches between Corey and Leila's points of view with chapters ending at a cliff-hanger and then switching narration, encouraging readers to plow through the next chapter to pick up where the previous arc left off. The friends are eventually reunited and the world is in no way the same as it was before. The main plot points are neatly sewn up, yet some over-lining mysteries remain, which are sure to be explored in the second installment in the series released this past May. The third is set for a March, 2021 release.