The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens

February 1, 2015
Where time travel, historical fiction and nonfiction, ancient Chinese design and Morse code collide-keep up, or risk being left in the past...or the future. Narrator Ambrose "Bro" Brody, a middle schooler with an Irish father and an Afro-French-Canadian mother, fears his family will suffer due to his father's embrace of his "trans-temp," or cross-time-dressing, identity, teaching middle school dressed as different historical figures. Shofranka "Frankie" Camlo, a Romany who travels with her father's carnival, and Tom Xui, Bro's best friend, a Chinese-American kid who loves history and uses big words as expletives, try to help Bro learn his fate. The boys accompany Frankie to retrieve the Camlo Shagbolt (a time trombone), but when trouble arises, Frankie blows the horn's "area code" for another decade and takes them back to 1852. Since the Fugitive Slave Act makes the trio a target for slave catchers, they run for their lives often, changing the future when they interact with ancestors. They are not without resources: Mr. Ganto, a Gigantopithecus, is their guardian; Tom can read the hexagrams in China's I-Ching: The Book of Changes and extract Morse code messages from them; Bro is clairvoyant; and Frankie is skilled at playing the Shagbolt. These elements combine to help the friends avert one historical disaster after another. A worthwhile if convoluted read that will extend readers' knowledge of history and expand their concept of "diversity." (Fantasy. 8-12)

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January 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Struggling with the news that his father is a "trans-temporal"-a person who is "not comfortable wearing the clothing of the twenty-first century"-Ambrose Brody is whisked back in time with his best friend Tom Xiu and a new friend, Shofranka Camlo. Shofranka, or Frankie, and her family are keepers of the Shagbolt, a trombone that enables time travel when the correct notes are played. The three find themselves in their Ohio hometown in 1852, a time that is unsafe for nonwhites: Ambrose is biracial, Frankie is Romani, and Tom is Chinese American. Tom's overbearing mother and rigorous piano and school study are a little stereotypical, but these traits are tempered with a knowing comment from Frankie about the dangers of believing in "ethnic stereotypes." This is a fun, whimsical read, and most chapters end with a cliff-hanger. The action is relatively tame, though there are several mentions of violence toward slaves. Clark weaves a great deal of factual information into the narrative: within the first 50 pages, readers can learn how to use the I Ching and Morse Code. At times, this results in stilted, pedantic dialogue. However, the story's humor, originality, and message of tolerance even out its small flaws, and this would be a good next step for fans of Jon Scieszka's "Time Warp Trio" (Puffin). An accessible read with a diverse cast, this is recommended for general purchase.-Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2015
Grades 4-7 Ambrose Brody never expected to time travel. He's had his fill of the historical from his father, a self-proclaimed trans-temporal who feels out of place in his own time period and dresses in the styles of others. A teacher, he's in trouble with the board for his eccentricities, which embarrasses Ambrose. Cue Frankie, a Romani girl with a time-traveling trombone who sweeps Ambrose and his best friend, Tom, back into nineteenth-century Ohioa treacherous place, as the slave trade is flourishing and none of the three are white. As they dart through time, assisted by, weirdly, patterns found in Morse code and the Chinese I-Ching, they learn the importance of tolerance and consequences. Some of the metaphors, especially those involving cross-time dressing, are a bit thinly veiled ( This is where it starts, in theater and the arts ), but the ultimate message of acceptance is well meant and relevant. For those hooked on this wacky adventure, a sequel seems imminent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)