Back to Before

by Jan Slepian

Eleven-year-old cousins Linny and Hilary find themselves transported back to their old Brooklyn neighborhood to a time just before Linny's mother died and Hilary's father left home

170 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 1993

Reviews

[Sonia Gomes · Rating 4 out of 5]

There have been times when we have looked back, sighed and said, ‘if only I could go back, I would tell my Father how much I loved him...’ or ‘if only I had put down my foot and not studied Chemistry... or even ‘if only, if only I had had the courage and left him when he was having all those affairs, not looked back even once’

These thoughts cross our mind frequently but as we know...there is no turning back. Never.

But strangely there was a turning back for Linny and Hilary... they are thrown back a year to the time when Linny lived with his Mother who was dying. Linny was fed up, his Mother who lay asleep through the day but needed him constantly, ‘Linny get my medicine from the store’, ‘Linny do not go out I need you, stay with me...’
Yes, Linny wanted to break free to practise his skateboard for the Most Important Competition, he leaves her for a minute, ignoring her beseeching eyes but sadly when he returns she is no longer alive, this haunts Linny through the year...

And Hilary blames her Mother for the Divorce, if only her Mother had been nicer and kinder, her Father would still have been with them...

Linny has three days, he wants to change back the clock...he wants to ‘keep’ his Mother. He will ‘not allow her to die’, he talks to his Mother about much he loves her and needs her and that he has never been angry with her, he never will be...
But his Mother is very ill and cannot come for the skateboarding competition so he puts up a magnificent show for her outside on the street below her bedroom window.
He then realises that the ‘disdain’ he thought was there for him in her eyes was her fear of leaving him, fear of never seeing him again.

And Hilary gets to know her Father’s true colours, his careless attitude to her and her Mother. Oh yes Hilary sees her Father for what he really is a ‘ladies man’

Can Linny hold back his Mother? Can Hilary prevent the Divorce?

No, we know there is no turning back...They come back to the present but with more courage and peace in their hearts.

But for us...We will never have the ‘chance of turning back the clock’...

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, unoriginal. More like an 'issues' story than an adventure. I didn't get to know the characters as real kids at all. Workmanlike. Not awful, but not worth our time, either.

[Cws]

JAR4-Sle

[Julian Dominguez]

I loved this book as a child. It's a perfect read for any child going through loss, be it through death, divorce, etc.