Stuck in the foster system, 15-year-old Zoe believes that her only special quality is her ability to turn back time, but even that has its limitations e can only go 23 minutes back in time, and only do that 10 times. So when she seeks shelter inside a bank during a rainstorm, interrupting a robbery and shooting, Zoe determines to use her gift to save lives rticularly the life of the attractive young man who took a bullet for her. With every turn of the clock, Zoe learns a little more, but each "playback" only makes the situation worse. In this nail-biting thriller from the author of Heir Apparent (2002), a likable young woman works through her fears to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost. Readers will be caught up in the psychological aspects of the story while they absorb the secondary story line of broken families, mental illness, and the foster system. Perfect for fans of Lisa McMann's Wake trilogy, this novel is also a nice choice for reluctant readers.

Gr 6-9 When 15-year-old Zoe ducks into Spencerport Savings and Loan to escape the rain, she finds herself in the middle of a bank robbery. But Zoe is unique, and it isn't her blue hair, ragged clothing, and tendency to make the people around her uncomfortable that make her so. Zoe can play back timebut only the last 23 minutes and she only has 10 chances to get everything right before that window of time becomes permanent. The teen isn't sure that her ability will be enough to save the life of Daniel, the man in the bank who was nice to her. And she doesn't exactly have the best history when it comes to playbacks, anyway. With only two main characters and a simple plot told 10 different ways, 23 Minutes could easily be a tedious read. But with new details in each playback, a gradual explanation of Zoe's background, and a slowly forming bond between Zoe and Daniel, readers will remain engaged and invested in the story line. An open ending underscores that, as in each of Zoe's attempts at changing the bank robbery, anything is possible, while at the same time serving as a reminder to readers that things are always more complicated than they seem. VERDICT For middle school and early high school fans of speculative fiction. Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC

It starts innocently enough when troubled teen Zoe Mahar, on the run from her latest placement, ducks into a bank to get out of the rain and stumbles into an armed robbery. Complicating the mess is a handsome young man who does a small kindness for her and is the first to be shot dead trying to keep her safe. Zoe is no ordinary runaway, though. She can travel back in timewithin limits. She can play back exactly twenty-three minutes and can redo the same time block up to ten times. Because she can return to the past with nothing but the folder she brought with her, and no one else knows the time shift occurred, she struggles to strategize a better result, especially for Daniel, her attractive hero. Nevertheless, with each disappointing outcome, Zoe feels compelled to try once more.Readers who suspend disbelief will find a fascinating "what-if" in which a possible situation is given an improbable twist through its construct of time. Zoe's ability to revisit the past raises a host of ethical dilemmas about power, perception, and responsibility. Just when she thinks she has things figured out, in the next rerun of those not-quite-the-same twenty-three minutes, a fresh revelation clobbers her. Velde strengthens the tension with a third-person point of view that allows readers to be clobbered more deliciously at a distance. A cover comprised of twenty-four squares (not twenty-three?) and Zoe's eye reflecting a strip of crime-scene tape will help sell the book.Donna L. Phillips.