Summer of Yesterday

April 21, 2014
Seventeen-year-old Haley is angry with her father for dragging her to Disney World’s Fort Wilderness for a vacation with his new wife and their four-year-old twins. It’s too painful: Haley’s parents met at Fort Wilderness as kids, and Haley still wishes they never got divorced. Then Haley ventures into the ruins of Disney’s River Country, and suddenly she’s falling; when she wakes up, it’s 1982. Haley soon runs into her parents-to-be as teenagers and decides to try and save their future. There’s love in the air for Haley, too—doomed love, of course, since Haley has to return to the present day, eventually. Triana (Backstage Pass) has put together a fun-loving, time-traveling trip to the 1980s—all that’s missing is a DeLorean. Whether it’s jelly shoes, Casio watches, or Christopher Atkins, Triana offers a feast of period references that will make adult readers smile (teens may need to do some Googling). As Haley’s adventure careens to an end, Triana cues up the feel-good resolutions in this sweet, lighthearted summer escape. Ages 14–up. Agent: Deborah Warren, East-West Literary Agency.

June 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Where better to fall in love than the Happiest Place on Earth? Where better to travel back in time than the Magical Kingdom? Seventeen-year-old Haley would much rather be at summer camp with her best friends Eva and Brianna, but her dad insists that she accompany him, his new wife, and their preschool-aged twins to Fort Wilderness, a campground that is part of Disney World. Haley is feeling less than magical until an ill-advised scavenger hunt takes her into River Country-the abandoned water park where her parents met in the eighties. One seizure later, Haley awakens to River Country in its heyday, along with all of the cultural references and feathered haircuts that went with the 1980s. As Haley attempts to piece together the events that led to her time travel, she must also sidestep park security and figure out how to survive for as long as it takes to get back into the 21st century. Jason, the adorable towel boy, comes to her aid and, little by little, she finds herself falling in love not just with him but also with the water park that holds so much history for her parents. Are Haley's efforts to elude park security plausible? Not really, but if readers have already committed to time travel a little creative license with theme park security measures isn't likely to trouble them. This cute coming-of-age romance that deals with grown-up feelings of love and loss may just be a bridge over the generation gap.-Jodeana Kruse, R. A. Long High School, WA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 10-1 Having a seizure in the most magical place on earth is the wildest ride of all for Haley, whose dad is forcing her to spend the summer with his new wife and twins at Disney's Fort Wilderness. Due to the seizure she had a few months ago, fun is off the menu. While exploring an off-limits area, a second seizure knocks her right smack into Disney World circa 1982! Triana's novel is less of a story about difficult family situations and more of a love letter to long summer nights spent with new friends, the promise of true love, and the magic of a Disney connection. Haley plays a small role in her own parents' meeting, and she gets to experience her own summer love when she talks a young, handsome Disney employee into hiding her at the park. Triana powerfully captures the lasting effects of an ephemeral summer in River Country, letting Haley's emotions splash over the page like a plunge on the park's water slides, as she discovers that being a teen in 1982 held many of the same challenges as being a teen today.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)