courage – Peaceful Reader

I have to admit I did expect something magical from the woman who generally writes about mermaids but the magic in this tale comes from time travel not ocean creatures.

A Year Without Autumn

Liz Kessler

2011

294 pgs

Summary: Thirteen-year-old Jenni’s much-anticipated vacation with her family and best friend Autumn goes awry when an old elevator transports her to a future in which everything has changed, and she must not only return to her time but find a way to prevent what she has seen from coming true.

Jenni doesn’t choose to travel forward in time; it just happens and what she finds is confusing and unhappy. How did all this mess occur? It takes her awhile to figure out what has happened to make her and her best friend’s life so miserable and then how to sort the trauma into something good. Jenni discovers that a missed horse riding date with Autumn causes a near-fatal accident for Autumn’s little brother, Mikey. The trickle down affect of this accident is what sheds light on a sad future for her best friend’s family and her in retrospect.

This is a wonderful book to share with a friend or a class full of students. Problem solving and cause and affect would be good discussion topics. Jenni grows as a character and I love how this makes her more sure of herself and her friendship with Autumn. You got to trust yourself first. I think young readers (probably girls) will love this time travel book about friendship. It reminded me of that famous line “There but for the grace of God go I”. You never know what circumstances can bring a family down if Autumn’s family can change in an instance.

Random quote:

I slink out of the house like a burglar, silently closing the front door behind me, and head for Autumn’s building.
The lobby is empty. It looks the same as it’s looked every day, the same as it looks every year. The marble walls, the fountain trickling out behind a glass panel, the archway to the first-floor hallway. The elevator. The one we’ve always used. And next to it, the other one: the one that’s never worked. Until yesterday. (146)

While it doesn’t have mermaids for characters this story is a though-provoking twist of fate tale. Perfect for understanding the complexities of family life and how simple moments can change everything.

I ordered this in my last Titlewave order without knowing anything about it, other than the cover art was striking. Usually I only order books I’ve read a review about, heard about or have looked at myself personally at the public library but because I have such good faith in Patricia Polacco-I oredered it with out a preview.

Once again Polacco’s book overwhelmed me, brought me to the brink of tears and showered me with great joy. This is the amazing story of the Crosswhite family, a slave family, working for a terrible master in Kentucky. After January, a family friend/brother figure is captured, returned back to the plantation then beaten by local slave traders in front of the family-it is more than they can bear. That and the secret knowledge that their sons are soon to be sold at auction gives the Crosswhite’s reason to flee the plantation even knowing what it will mean if they are captured.

This book highlights the Underground Railroad stations as well as Marshall, Michigan, a town where many residents disagreed with slavery and the Crosswhites get used to this taste of freedom, staying there for several years. Ultimately they must rely on the neighbors surrounding them as well as white townspeople to save them from recapture. If you haven’t had a chance to read this; this would be the perfect month to use this for a readaloud.

Tag: courage

A Year without Autumn by Liz Kessler

January's Sparrow by Patricia Polacco