The First State of Being

December 18, 2023
When a mysterious teenager named Ridge appears at Michael Rosario’s apartment complex on Michael’s 12th birthday in 1999, Michael believes there’s “something off” about him. Ridge soon reveals he’s from 2199 and, after being goaded by his brothers, used the recently developed, controversial Spatial Teleportation Module to travel back to 1999, his “favorite year in history.” Shy, awkward, and compassionate Michael, who is half Filipino and assumed half white, and only has two friends—his 15-year-old babysitter and crush Gibby, who cues as white, and “brown weathered” Mr. Mosely, the complex’s 62-year-old maintenance man—has been secretly, obsessively stockpiling (and shoplifting) supplies for himself and his loving, hard-working single mother in preparation for the assumed disaster of Y2K. Michael realizes Ridge can tell him if Y2K was indeed a worldwide crisis, but Ridge refuses. As Michael and Gibby indulge Ridge’s fascination with shopping malls and 1999 objects, he develops a previously unknown self-confidence that is well rendered and endearing. Interspersed audio transcripts and textbook excerpts from 2199 provide background for Ridge, and an epilogue reveals a delicious, thought-provoking twist on a question posed early on by Kelly (Those Kids from Fawn Creek): would the disruption of time influence past, present, or future events? Ages 8–12.

April 1, 2024

Gr 3-5-Since voicing Kelly's 2018 Newbery Medal-awarded Hello, Universe, prolific de Ocampo (who shares Kelly's Filipino American heritage) continues as the author's male voice of choice, notably channeling ages, genders, and backgrounds with confident ease. In August 1999, 12-year-old Michael shoplifts canned peaches to augment his Y2K stockpile. His overworked single mother (who loves peaches) thinks he still needs a babysitter-16-year-old Gibby who smells like strawberries. His only other friend is Mr. Mosley, their apartment complex's maintenance manager. And then Ridge appears, asking for the date, wearing strange clothes, and speaking unfamiliar phrases. Michael and Gibby must figure out who he is, and then how to get him home. Kelly regularly interrupts her 1999 narrative with excerpts dating well into the future that de Ocampo imbues with a slight, lyrical accent, as if the English decades ahead might not be what we hear today. VERDICT De Ocampo's expert narration is also an encouraging choice for reluctant readers.

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2024

Gr 3-5-Kelly returns with another solid middle grade novel exploring themes of time travel and personal responsibility. In 1999, anxiety-ridden 12-year-old Michael, in the throes of prepping for a potential disaster thanks to Y2K, happens upon a teen named Ridge, who is strangely dressed and speaks in unfamiliar phrases. Ridge has traveled back in time from 2199 thanks to his mother's scientific work and a dare from his siblings. Although the opportunity to know any and all future outcomes is irresistible to Michael, he understands he must help Ridge get home. Small bumps in logic and pacing are this story's only issues. The loss of a kindly mentor throws a wrench into the rhythm, with the urgency of Ridge's return set aside for a stretch that feels longer than the number of pages it takes to read. However, Kelly has deftly assembled a community of empathetically rendered characters, making this an enjoyable, uplifting reading experience. The elements of sci-fi will be enough to sate fans of the genre while remaining approachable for all audiences. VERDICT A lovable cast buoys this time travel drama by one of the most reliable authors in children's literature.-Alexandra Quay

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2024
It's the summer of 1999. Twelve-year-old Delawarean Michael has worries, chief among them the approach of Y2K. What if everything falls apart? Family finances are precarious, so he's amassing a stash of groceries acquired through shoplifting. Then he meets an odd new kid. Ridge appears disoriented, as well he might, as he has time-traveled there from two hundred years in the future. In transcripts of conversations and documents from that future, we discover that Ridge went rogue and time-traveled without permission, putting himself and possibly the whole history of civilization at risk. There's a technical blip that might trap the traveler at the end of the twentieth century. A time-travel plot always involves logical conundrums, and Kelly (Those Kids from Fawn Creek, rev. 3/22) neatly grounds the mind-bending what-ifs of cause, effect, and the nature of time with real, present relationships and situations, kids with a secret, and a major problem to solve. It's a well-crafted adventure surrounding a big philosophical idea with a side of middle-grade romance. The non-dystopian (although still fragile) vision of the future is tantalizing: cures for allergies and the common cold, progress on plastic pollution, women taking the lead in science and technology. (But apparently teens and tweens will still drive their parents up the wall.) Sarah Ellis

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 15, 2024
In the lead-up to Y2K, a Delaware 12-year-old preparing for disaster meets a time traveler from 2199. It's August 1999. Michael Rosario is stealing canned peaches from Super Saver. It's for a good cause: He's stocking up in case the world collapses when the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2000. And his mom loves peaches. They live together (his father's long been out of the picture) at the nearby Fox Run Apartments, where Michael narrowly escapes to after getting hassled by the supermarket manager's bullying son. Still hiding his loot, Michael, who's "half Filipino," is chatting with maintenance man Mr. Mosley when a dazed teenager wearing uniformlike clothing introduces himself as Ridge and asks what year it is. After more unusual encounters, Michael and his 15-year-old babysitter, Gibby, discover that Ridge is from the future. How did he travel back in time--and how will he get back? Excerpts of informational text and audio transcripts interspersed throughout the novel follow Ridge's family members as they try to save him at the same time that he's trying to save himself with the help of his new friends. The worldbuilding in this brisk work, largely devoted to elucidating spatial teleportation, is a feat of vocabulary rather than of plot tension. Still, Kelly's memorable character development is on full display as anxious and sensitive Michael learns to embrace the present, while Ridge's charming misuse of slang adds humor to this amusing ride. A warmhearted blend of nostalgia and futurism. (Speculative fiction. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
Grades 5-7 Newbery winner Kelly gives us a time-travel book that stays grounded, despite the subject matter, and draws on the power of human connection through time and space. Ridge is a teenage genius and the world's first time traveler--only, he wasn't supposed to use the device, and now he's stuck in 1999. Michael Rosario is a 12-year-old boy who is also stuck, in a way: his family struggles financially, something he blames himself for; as Y2K approaches, his anxiety leads him to doomsday prepping in a less-than-legal way; and his only friend is his babysitter, whom he has a huge crush on. Ridge may be trapped in time, but Michael is trapped in his own head, and when the two meet, Michael must either betray his new friend's trust or finally push aside his own fears and learn what it means to "do better tomorrow." This quiet book with a solid emotional core will be a treat for readers who love stories about found family and bravery, as well as those who would empathize with Michael's anxieties about the unknown future.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2024
It's the summer of 1999. Twelve-year-old Delawarean Michael has worries, chief among them the approach of Y2K. What if everything falls apart? Family finances are precarious, so he's amassing a stash of groceries acquired through shoplifting. Then he meets an odd new kid. Ridge appears disoriented, as well he might, as he has time-traveled there from two hundred years in the future. In transcripts of conversations and documents from that future, we discover that Ridge went rogue and time-traveled without permission, putting himself and possibly the whole history of civilization at risk. There's a technical blip that might trap the traveler at the end of the twentieth century. A time-travel plot always involves logical conundrums, and Kelly (Those Kids from Fawn Creek, rev. 3/22) neatly grounds the mind-bending what-ifs of cause, effect, and the nature of time with real, present relationships and situations, kids with a secret, and a major problem to solve. It's a well-crafted adventure surrounding a big philosophical idea with a side of middle-grade romance. The non-dystopian (although still fragile) vision of the future is tantalizing: cures for allergies and the common cold, progress on plastic pollution, women taking the lead in science and technology. (But apparently teens and tweens will still drive their parents up the wall.)

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)