Finn and the Time-Traveling Pajamas

December 1, 2020

Gr 4-7-This second entry from the "Finniverse" series continues where the first volume left off. Finn is saved from the Time Rangers by an older version of himself. But Old Finn needs Finn to help destroy a terrible monster called Paradox, who is obsessed with revenge against Finn's father. Old Finn promises to tell Finn where his father is, if he agrees to help destroy Paradox. He is given a pair of cowboy pajamas that are actually a time machine, and told not to take them off, or the time line will reset and anything they changed in the past will affect the present. But the pajamas malfunction, leaving Finn and his friends stranded in the distant past and then the far distant future. An amazingly fun romp filled with humor and heart, this is a series that is sure to gain popularity. This installment doesn't stand alone, and readers are better served by reading the series opener. Buckley also throws in nods to classic movies like The Matrix, Back to the Future, and Planet of the Apes. The plot is crafted in such a masterly way; the final twist is devastating, and fans will beg for the next volume. VERDICT A must-buy for middle grade sci-fi fans.-Patrick Tierney, Pascoag P.L., RI

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Six months after tackling invading aliens in Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox (2020), young Finn now takes on a time-traveling monster at the behest of his much older self. A jumble of clever twists and goofy set pieces that never quite coalesce into coherence, the tale sends Finn Foley and buddies Lincoln Sidana and Julep Li on a long series of short time hops to eras past and present--in some of which they participate in or watch running battles between their older selves and an armored monster named Paradox who proclaims a vague intention to destroy time, or rule the universe, or something. Meanwhile, hotly pursuing Time Rangers who dress and talk like cowboys place hastily made clones that look like the trio but act like cats in the present day to serve as stand-ins...to the consternation of Finn's baffled but take-charge little sister, Kate. In the climactic battle, Paradox survives attacks from saber-toothed tigers and armies of Revolutionary War soldiers as well as futuristic energy weapons but unravels at last when Finn reboots the entire timeline. Unfortunately, that puts a number of significant events in the previous volume in the "never happened" category. Their surnames cue Julep and Lincoln as Asian; some Rangers are people of color, and the rest of the cast presents as White. Fun at (ahem) times, but readers of the opener are going to be let down by the revelation that it didn't count. (Science fiction. 9-12)

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