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Timewrecked
It had to be the worst day of seventh grader Kevin Larson’s life. First his little brother breaks his favorite blue bottle, then the school bully entertains himself by stomping on Kevin’s hand. When the bully gleefully tells the teacher that Kevin hasn’t even started the history report due the next day, Kevin knows he’s doomed. Even with the help of his buddies, Naomi, Michael and Tasha, he hasn’t got a prayer of writing the ten-page report overnight.
But when his friends gather with him in his room to help him write, fate has one more trick to play on Kevin. A visit to a strange Web site and the antics of Kevin’s cat, Snowflake, launch the four seventh-graders on a remarkable adventure more than a century into the past. Trapped in the wrong time, sheltered by a young girl named Sarah, Kevin and his friends struggle to devise a way to return to the future. But when Kevin discovers Sarah’s dark secret, he has a new mission--save Sarah from her abusive stepfather, even if it means being trapped forever in the past.
But when his friends gather with him in his room to help him write, fate has one more trick to play on Kevin. A visit to a strange Web site and the antics of Kevin’s cat, Snowflake, launch the four seventh-graders on a remarkable adventure more than a century into the past. Trapped in the wrong time, sheltered by a young girl named Sarah, Kevin and his friends struggle to devise a way to return to the future. But when Kevin discovers Sarah’s dark secret, he has a new mission--save Sarah from her abusive stepfather, even if it means being trapped forever in the past.
85 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 18, 2012
5 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Karen Sandler
76 books85 followersKaren Sandler grew up in L.A. County’s South Bay, fishing for bonito off the Redondo Beach pier, crunching on sand in her tuna sandwiches, and roasting in the sun until she was lobster-red.
By age 9, she knew she wanted to be a writer without having the slightest notion what that involved. She was practical enough to earn a BA in math & physics and an MS in computer science (hence her love of science fiction), but her software engineering career took a sharp U-turn when she quit to write full-time.
She's the author of numerous novels, screenwriter of a few short films, and now knows exactly what a writer does—tell stories that linger in the hearts of her audience.
By age 9, she knew she wanted to be a writer without having the slightest notion what that involved. She was practical enough to earn a BA in math & physics and an MS in computer science (hence her love of science fiction), but her software engineering career took a sharp U-turn when she quit to write full-time.
She's the author of numerous novels, screenwriter of a few short films, and now knows exactly what a writer does—tell stories that linger in the hearts of her audience.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 17, 2020
This is a short story about a seventh grader called Kevin and his friends. Kevin likes to collect old glass bottles, but the mix of a four year old brother Aaron and a cat called Snowflake, are not a good mix when they get into his room together, breaking his latest acquisition which was over a hundred years old! He has a crush on a girl who used to be his best friend, until he started noticing girls and now he is just tongue-twisted around Naomi and she has become close to another girl, Tasha, instead of him. Now he gets stuck sitting next to Michael on their carpool ride to school! He was going to use the bottle in his ten page report, due the next morning. Oops! The report is supposed to be about someone in Californian history. When they have a free period in the library, the class bully makes fun of him and blabs to the teacher about his lack of report and even steps on his fingers when the teachers back is turned!
Naomi, Michael and Tasha promise to come round after school to help him finish his report, but none of them could ever expect what happens when they do. An over eager Michael, a cat on top of the desk where a pet snack device is rigged up, and a new SSD for Kevin’s computer, all combine with a flash of blue and they are all enclosed by the colour and then realise they aren’t in his bedroom anymore! They have landed in Brodie, Eastern Sierras, in the year 1880. They end up just avoiding a horse and wagon in the street of a California Gold Rush town! They see the young girl Sarah, who appeared on the computer screen, just before the blue flash. They stop her and ask for some help with somewhere to stay, pretending they are orphans and have nowhere to go. She takes them to a spare room in her step-daddy’s rooming house, but they need to stay hidden as he is a violent man.
The group of friends have to figure out how to get back to their own time, but also want to see if they can help Sarah to get away from her abusive step-father. She has an aunt on her mother’s side, in San Francisco, and they hope to find gold to fund her travels to a safer home. The time passes much slower in the Gold Rush town of Brodie, but when they try to leave, the blue light goes out as Kevin’s mum turns off his computer. They are trapped in Brodie, with only Sarah as an aide to them all, giving them somewhere to stay, basic food and water supplies. I loved the shock of the kids figuring out what the chamber pot was for and how they would use it within a small room, with their friends right there as well! Definitely a story for the younger reader, but still pleasant to read as an older reader, taking you back to your childhood and the distant past, with a touch of time travel as well. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
Naomi, Michael and Tasha promise to come round after school to help him finish his report, but none of them could ever expect what happens when they do. An over eager Michael, a cat on top of the desk where a pet snack device is rigged up, and a new SSD for Kevin’s computer, all combine with a flash of blue and they are all enclosed by the colour and then realise they aren’t in his bedroom anymore! They have landed in Brodie, Eastern Sierras, in the year 1880. They end up just avoiding a horse and wagon in the street of a California Gold Rush town! They see the young girl Sarah, who appeared on the computer screen, just before the blue flash. They stop her and ask for some help with somewhere to stay, pretending they are orphans and have nowhere to go. She takes them to a spare room in her step-daddy’s rooming house, but they need to stay hidden as he is a violent man.
The group of friends have to figure out how to get back to their own time, but also want to see if they can help Sarah to get away from her abusive step-father. She has an aunt on her mother’s side, in San Francisco, and they hope to find gold to fund her travels to a safer home. The time passes much slower in the Gold Rush town of Brodie, but when they try to leave, the blue light goes out as Kevin’s mum turns off his computer. They are trapped in Brodie, with only Sarah as an aide to them all, giving them somewhere to stay, basic food and water supplies. I loved the shock of the kids figuring out what the chamber pot was for and how they would use it within a small room, with their friends right there as well! Definitely a story for the younger reader, but still pleasant to read as an older reader, taking you back to your childhood and the distant past, with a touch of time travel as well. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.
September 11, 2020
Kevin Larson had a series of mishaps and, when his 10-page report for school is due the next day, some friends come over to help him. As if the bad luck hovers over him, more mishaps somehow end up sending the 7th-graders back to a California Gold Rush town in 1880. Sarah befriends the four “time-wrecked” kids, even though it may mean another beating by her stepfather. Kevin is faced with a difficult decision. Should he try to help Sarah escape by tinkering with the past? And what happens to him and the others if he makes a bad change and traps them all in the past?
This was a clever story and I loved seeing the kids being so supportive of each other. And the decisions they need to make are not simple. With so many possibilities here, don’t miss this story to see how the friends will deal with this issue.
This was a clever story and I loved seeing the kids being so supportive of each other. And the decisions they need to make are not simple. With so many possibilities here, don’t miss this story to see how the friends will deal with this issue.
July 6, 2018
Not a very well thought out concept of time travel, but a cute little story none the less.
October 3, 2013
This time-travelling tale is a good read. The kids get zapped back in time and have to get home again. It ties in with the classroom lesson they are doing. Nice setting, nice characters, nice storytelling. Overall a good read.
October 10, 2014
Good kid's book. I felt like the ending was too abrupt/short. It didn't leave you hanging, but I just felt like there could have been more.
March 23, 2015
A cute story for all ages. I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews