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Time Meddlers #1
The Time Meddlers
One of Canada s top scientists has found the secret to time travel. But something has gone horribly wrong. . . .
On the first day of school, in a new city, Sarah Sachs experiences the shock of her life when she sees a car drive right through a strange boy. Did she really see it, or was it a figment of her imagination? She becomes swept up in Matt Barnes s life as she helps him search for his father, a famous scientist who s been missing since Matt s birth. Their quest will lead them to uncover a powerful new technology and expose the frightening secret behind Dr. Barnes s disappearance. It will throw them far from the modern city of Ottawa into the forest-matted land of the 1600 s, and deposit them right in the middle of a war between the Iroquois and the Algonquin nations. In the midst of this strange New World, it will take all their courage just to survive. Will the answer they seek be found in time?
- GenresYoung AdultTime Travel
197 pages, Paperback
First published September 17, 2012
46 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Jackson
9 books30 followersDeborah Jackson grew up in the Toronto region, received her undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa and worked for many years in the healthcare field before beginning her writing career. She is the author of several science fiction and historical fiction novels. Deborah is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Speculative Fiction Canada. Articles about Deborah and reviews of her books have appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, MORE Magazine, the RT Bookclub Magazine, Canadian Teacher Magazine, SF Site, Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine and many more.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 18, 2025
Sarah is furious as her dad made her move to what she considers the arctic wilderness of Ottawa. Her anger trades places with astonishment as, on her first day at her new school, she sees a car drive through a boy, and the boy just keeps walking without a care in the world.
The boy, Matt, turns out to be the son of a famous physicist and explorer. Matt is a handful for both the teachers and his fellow students. He’s angry and frustrated because he lives with his dad’s assistant. Matt knows his dad doesn’t care about him. His dad only cares about his job. He’s never even seen his dad in real life. Though his dad does send him video messages every once in a while. This has been going on for so long that he’s actually starting to think his dad might actually be dead and the assistant could be making computer-generated videos of him so Matt doesn’t find out about it. And yet, hope is still alive in Matt’s heart as he wants to meet his dad.
Sarah decides to help Matt with his quest to find his dad. But when they break into Matt’s dad’s secret laboratory, Sarah starts seeing things that aren’t really there, and yet they seem so real. Flashes of a historical conflict between the Algonquin and Iroquois nations.
This story is very interesting because of the characters and because of the history. The characters are a highlight of this story because you have two very different and yet very interesting characters who are basically the victims of their parents’ selfish decisions and ambitions. Sarah’s dad got a divorce and moved far away from her mother for his own political career. Sarah’s mother only seems to care about her work, she doesn’t even want to visit her daughter in the hospital after Sarah’s had an accident. Matt has never even met his dad, because his dad thinks it’s more important to explore ancient mysteries than to spend time with his son. And yet both kids love their parents and want to be with them.
The history is fascinating to say the least. It might be even more interesting if you already know a bit about Canadian history before tackling this book. But I didn’t know a lot about these native nations and I never felt lost, plus I learned quite a few things about them throughout this story. That’s also an interesting part of Sarah’s character. Her dad points out that she’s fascinated by archeology in like Egypt for example, but there’s plenty of interesting history to be found in their native Canada. And that’s what this book tries to highlight. It’s educational, but in an entertaining way. It wants to get you excited about this part of history, not overwhelm you with facts.
It’s slower than I thought it was going to be, but the story is all the better for it. It’s a story that takes its time to flesh out the characters and set up the historical part. This makes it easier to become invested in the characters and to get hooked by the fascinating history it has to offer. The plot is kept rather simple, but it can be quite gripping because of the mystery in the first part, and the action and adventure scenes in the second.
The boy, Matt, turns out to be the son of a famous physicist and explorer. Matt is a handful for both the teachers and his fellow students. He’s angry and frustrated because he lives with his dad’s assistant. Matt knows his dad doesn’t care about him. His dad only cares about his job. He’s never even seen his dad in real life. Though his dad does send him video messages every once in a while. This has been going on for so long that he’s actually starting to think his dad might actually be dead and the assistant could be making computer-generated videos of him so Matt doesn’t find out about it. And yet, hope is still alive in Matt’s heart as he wants to meet his dad.
Sarah decides to help Matt with his quest to find his dad. But when they break into Matt’s dad’s secret laboratory, Sarah starts seeing things that aren’t really there, and yet they seem so real. Flashes of a historical conflict between the Algonquin and Iroquois nations.
This story is very interesting because of the characters and because of the history. The characters are a highlight of this story because you have two very different and yet very interesting characters who are basically the victims of their parents’ selfish decisions and ambitions. Sarah’s dad got a divorce and moved far away from her mother for his own political career. Sarah’s mother only seems to care about her work, she doesn’t even want to visit her daughter in the hospital after Sarah’s had an accident. Matt has never even met his dad, because his dad thinks it’s more important to explore ancient mysteries than to spend time with his son. And yet both kids love their parents and want to be with them.
The history is fascinating to say the least. It might be even more interesting if you already know a bit about Canadian history before tackling this book. But I didn’t know a lot about these native nations and I never felt lost, plus I learned quite a few things about them throughout this story. That’s also an interesting part of Sarah’s character. Her dad points out that she’s fascinated by archeology in like Egypt for example, but there’s plenty of interesting history to be found in their native Canada. And that’s what this book tries to highlight. It’s educational, but in an entertaining way. It wants to get you excited about this part of history, not overwhelm you with facts.
It’s slower than I thought it was going to be, but the story is all the better for it. It’s a story that takes its time to flesh out the characters and set up the historical part. This makes it easier to become invested in the characters and to get hooked by the fascinating history it has to offer. The plot is kept rather simple, but it can be quite gripping because of the mystery in the first part, and the action and adventure scenes in the second.
June 7, 2021
Imaginative history lesson for Canadians
Wow! What a way to get children involved in learning about the history of the country you live in. Although I’m not a Canadian, I definitely enjoyed learning a few things myself. And you can’t go wrong with time travel. Really enjoyed it.
Wow! What a way to get children involved in learning about the history of the country you live in. Although I’m not a Canadian, I definitely enjoyed learning a few things myself. And you can’t go wrong with time travel. Really enjoyed it.
September 10, 2017
A nice read. Good way to get some Canadian history into young adults
April 16, 2020
Fun for teenagers
September 15, 2020
This was ok---it did leave you hanging @ the end----definately a young adult level book
February 8, 2013
I've had a few different middle grade time travel books come in lately.
This one is extra special. It's Canadian through and through. Taking place in Canada, written by a Canadian author.
I honestly don't know if we do enough to promote our home grown talent so I am thrilled to be able to help spread the word about our authors. Especially when it comes to children's books.
Time meddlers is the start of series for kids.
The main characters in Time Meddlers, Matt and Sarah are tossed back in time when they are found trying to find Matt's father.
A great series for kids. It starts with two individuals who aren't friends. As the story progresses we see them eventually form a truce, eventually becoming friends.
Friendship isn't easy and Time Meddlers shows that. The two don't always agree, nor do they always get along but they always come together working things out. True friendship, also true to the nature of kids. Something I think is important in kids books.
We also get a look at what family means to both of them. As well as their thoughts and feelings regarding their own families and those around them.
I was really impressed with how their views as well as their maturity changed through out the book. We saw them come together, but also grow and slowly let each other in, and become close.
Each of them fight to over come fears and do what's right, not only for themselves, but others and the world as a whole.
Both characters become great role models for young readers.
Time meddlers is a fun read, with loveable characters and well written not so loveable evil characters.
At the end of the book, you find activities and discussion questions. Making them great books for fun, clubs or studies.
I most definitely recommend the series and look forward to the next book.
This one is extra special. It's Canadian through and through. Taking place in Canada, written by a Canadian author.
I honestly don't know if we do enough to promote our home grown talent so I am thrilled to be able to help spread the word about our authors. Especially when it comes to children's books.
Time meddlers is the start of series for kids.
The main characters in Time Meddlers, Matt and Sarah are tossed back in time when they are found trying to find Matt's father.
A great series for kids. It starts with two individuals who aren't friends. As the story progresses we see them eventually form a truce, eventually becoming friends.
Friendship isn't easy and Time Meddlers shows that. The two don't always agree, nor do they always get along but they always come together working things out. True friendship, also true to the nature of kids. Something I think is important in kids books.
We also get a look at what family means to both of them. As well as their thoughts and feelings regarding their own families and those around them.
I was really impressed with how their views as well as their maturity changed through out the book. We saw them come together, but also grow and slowly let each other in, and become close.
Each of them fight to over come fears and do what's right, not only for themselves, but others and the world as a whole.
Both characters become great role models for young readers.
Time meddlers is a fun read, with loveable characters and well written not so loveable evil characters.
At the end of the book, you find activities and discussion questions. Making them great books for fun, clubs or studies.
I most definitely recommend the series and look forward to the next book.
April 2, 2010
This book is blah. I mean really just horrible. It is only 190 or so pages but each one is torture. Two kids go back in time in Canada and try to not only stop a war between the indigenous people there but also convince them to prevent "white man" injustices. Look I don't have a problem with the message, I'm just disturbed by the poor writing. Also by the fact that there are reading group discussion questions and activities, giving me the idea that some poor kid in a classroom had to read this. If someone forced me to read this book in junior high I might no like reading as much as I do now. If you want a good time travel story for kids check out Gideon the Cutpurse.
July 8, 2012
Is this deep? No. Is it a fun story with a point to make. Sure. I actually enjoyed the tale. Traveling back in time, wouldn't you want to try and make a difference? The story is aimed at a younger audience and I read this with that thought in mind.
There is the usual parent/child angst, learning what family is like, learning about friendship, history, thinking of others besides oneself, adventure, scifi, time travel and/or dimension travel, a bit of mysticism (particularly Indian) and fun.
There is the usual parent/child angst, learning what family is like, learning about friendship, history, thinking of others besides oneself, adventure, scifi, time travel and/or dimension travel, a bit of mysticism (particularly Indian) and fun.
July 2, 2014
Fun book.
July 21, 2015
Historical fiction
Read
December 16, 2017I'm not quite sure what age group this was intended for, but I found it rather fun.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews