School Library Journal
Gr 6-10 A light, fast-paced and readable adventure that combines elements of romance, science fiction and fantasy. Jeanette Lacy, an unhappy 15 year old, attempts to find her runaway brother Neil and ends up being transported to another time. The time-transport stones are located in an old hotel scheduled to be destroyed in a few days, so the plot-clock starts ticking as Jeanette and Neil wander through different centuries, not always on Earth, before reaching home. When Jeanette discovers a picture of herself in a history book, she realizes that her days of time travel with Jesse, the 17-year-old whom she meets, have just begun. Serious science fiction readers will find few new ideas in this story, which is a pastiche of notions from works like H. G. Wells' Time Machine , the 1973 movie Soylent Green and episodes of Star Trek. Some readers may be disappointed by the lack of descriptive detail, the introduction of characters who are later dropped and vague explanations about life in other societies, but since they are assured that Jeanette will travel again and rediscover Jesse, perhaps these questions and characters will resurface in the next installment. Yvonne A. Frey, Peoria Public Library, Ill.