Finn's upcoming thirteenth birthday is the painful, annual reminder of his twin sister's death. This year, his mother is gone, too. "She just needs some time," says Finn's father, but it doesn't help Finn feel any better. Left with his gran for the weekend, science-minded Finn discovers the fantastical truth: the women in his family are time travelers, and his mother has disappeared into another time line to save his sister. She needs Finn's help and, since he lacks the power to travel himself, she's left him a portal. With the help of his best friend Gabi, Finn embarks on a recursive journey through time. Not everyone in this small New England town agrees on what can and should be changed, but what Finn learns is a truth we all need: how we treat people changes everything. Though some time-travel threads remain tangled and would likely frustrate lovers of more rigorous sf mechanics, Valentine's debut is an emotionally compelling and heartfelt tale of love and family that is reminiscent of Tuck Everlasting and A Wrinkle in Time.

Gr 5-8 Finn's life has felt incomplete since the death of his twin sister, Faith, when they were three, and now that his mom has disappeared ten years later, it threatens to fall apart. A trip to Gran's does little to help. She warns him not to trust anyone, and dies in her bed the night he arrives. But most disconcerting is the Gran who arrives from five years ago, telling him that theirs is a family of time travelers, that his mother is one, and that his dead sister (snatched out of time) has become not only the most powerful but the most evil of the Travelers. His mother has moved backward and taken Faith with her to try to keep the little girl from growing into the terror revealed by forward travel through all the time linesin each one of which, she kills Finn. Since only women in the family have the ability to Travel, there's not much Finn can dountil his mother reveals that there's a time-travel portal made specifically for him, and a task that only he can perform. Time travel tends to be a sci-fi construct, but this is definitely a fantasy story, as there's no real explanation of the time traveling beyond "magic." But Finn is an engaging character who has a plucky friend, Gabi, and Faith is a plausible evildoer. Most unusually, the adults believe the kids are capable of saving them all. VERDICT Any young reader who wants to believe that magic can change the harsh realities of life will find much to enjoy here. Recommended for all middle grade fantasy sections. Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX