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The Bean Books #2
In Her Own Time
Summer 1970: Bean Donohue’s sixteen, she’s finally got a good band together, and she’s crazy in love with her artist boyfriend Zak. She’s also about to get the coolest summer job ever, and her impossible mom’s conveniently out of town. So why does she keep ending up in 1953…or 1779? And who's that guy with the black ponytail and the Kent State t-shirt? He knows way too much about her. Should Zak be worried—or should Bean?
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2016
355 people want to read
About the author
Christine Potter
6 books244 followersChristine Potter is a writer and poet who lives in a very old (haunted) house on a creek in Rockland County. She has an organist/choirdirector husband (Ken) and two spoiled tom cats. One of the house's two ghosts lives in the room behind her office.
Christine's newest book is a YA time travel novel, What Time Is It There? (The Bean Books, Book 3), newly released by Evernight Teen. The first book in the series is Time Runs Away With Her, and the second is In Her Own Time.
Her two poetry collections are Zero Degrees at First Light (2006) and Sheltering in Place (2013). She has also had poems published in Rattle, Fugue, The Irish Examiner, HOOT, Eclectica, and The Pedestal, among other magazines. Her third book of poems, Unforgetting, is due out this spring from Kelsay Books.
Christine's newest book is a YA time travel novel, What Time Is It There? (The Bean Books, Book 3), newly released by Evernight Teen. The first book in the series is Time Runs Away With Her, and the second is In Her Own Time.
Her two poetry collections are Zero Degrees at First Light (2006) and Sheltering in Place (2013). She has also had poems published in Rattle, Fugue, The Irish Examiner, HOOT, Eclectica, and The Pedestal, among other magazines. Her third book of poems, Unforgetting, is due out this spring from Kelsay Books.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 11, 2018
Beans strange but fascinating story continues. Her mothers out of town. Zak and Sam have come to keep her company. Suzanne has at last broken up with her crazy boyfriend at last. Things are looking up so why does Bean keep slipping into the past?
We are still in the 1970's mostly and the band is on hold. Suzanne is away with her family. Bean is enjoying her free time and taking advantage of having her boyfriend over. A summer job is on the cards. Her mothers feeling proud and the job may be more than Bean anticipated.
As I said before this is a becoming of age series following Beans life. The 1970's isn't a decade I know much about and this is a glimpse into the aftermath of the swinging 60's. Sex, drugs and Rock 'n' Roll is in high spirits. The writing style is a little strange and Bean is a unique character. Her boyfriend is an artist and perfect for her. The story is addictive and controversial. Beans mother is full of regret and wants better for her daughter but everyone has to find their own path. Sometimes understanding the past can help the future. Beans gifts may be more powerful and dangerous than she realised.
4 stars out of 5. I received an ARC as part of the Chapter by Chapter book tour for book 3.
We are still in the 1970's mostly and the band is on hold. Suzanne is away with her family. Bean is enjoying her free time and taking advantage of having her boyfriend over. A summer job is on the cards. Her mothers feeling proud and the job may be more than Bean anticipated.
As I said before this is a becoming of age series following Beans life. The 1970's isn't a decade I know much about and this is a glimpse into the aftermath of the swinging 60's. Sex, drugs and Rock 'n' Roll is in high spirits. The writing style is a little strange and Bean is a unique character. Her boyfriend is an artist and perfect for her. The story is addictive and controversial. Beans mother is full of regret and wants better for her daughter but everyone has to find their own path. Sometimes understanding the past can help the future. Beans gifts may be more powerful and dangerous than she realised.
4 stars out of 5. I received an ARC as part of the Chapter by Chapter book tour for book 3.
July 29, 2016
IN HER OWN TIME, as a title, is a very nifty trick. Take it literally, and our hero, the time-travelling Bean Donahue, is safest in her own time. Take it in its common usage, and she will learn her ability at her own pace and in her own way. Of course, “her own time” is 1970, and this is a time-travelling trip for the reader as well—one which I highly recommend.
Welcome back to the era of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Let’s reintroduce ourselves to the characters we fell in love with in TIME RUNS AWAY WITH HER: Rebecca “Bean” Donahue and the band—that’s also Sam and Suzanne—and also her artist boyfriend, Zak, who qualifies everything by the degree to which he deems them “bizarre.” Shake hands again with Father Tollman, and Odell, and that eternally frustrating mother figure, “Juuulia.” We know these people. It’s comfortable in Stormkill, perhaps even more so in July than in the dead of winter. We’ll see Deerfield Academy again, all the familiar places and people. I’m so totally into this … But wait—something’s wrong.
As Bean grows up, the potential of her ability, her power, seems also to have increased—and as the old saying goes, with that comes greater responsibility. Enter Crow, program director for the local radio station. Bean, Zak, and Sam might find opportunities there—or at least some intern work between semesters at school—but there’s one hell of a lot more in this entry-level stepping stone on the way to musical stardom than at first appears to be the case.
What if Bean is not alone in her talents? What if tripping decades back in time to bear witness to the tragedies (or, at least, dramas) of Deerwood Academy is only the first tentative step down, into a very dark place? In this second of the “Bean Books,” Christine Potter invites the reader into fantastical conflicts that are not only observed, but experienced. In the first book, the real danger was at home, in Bean’s Own Time, while the dangers of the past held the potential for truth and understanding—not (necessarily) palpable danger of their very own. It’s all different now. The phrase “something old, something new,” has never seemed so appropriate.
I can’t say anything more of the plot without running the risk of spoiling things for the reader. I will say this, though: it’s easy for a lazy writer to haphazardly stumble into mere “product placement” when trying to recreate an era—either for her peers or for those too young, or too far removed, to have experienced it themselves. Christine Potter avoids this with surety and deftness. The world is real, the pop culture and the news and the MUSIC is real—and if we don’t recognize a referenced track, we want to YouTube the damn thing and get in on the scene. (I did this with Grace Slick’s misguided blackface appearance on the Smothers Brothers, just to see if it was really … real. And it was!)
There’s so much going on here, as I might have said of the first book. There’s romance, yes, and fantasy—but also world rebuilding, character exploration at every level, dynamisms in personality change that come with age and change of circumstance, dissections of complex human emotional extremities that include grief, trust, and the murkiness of good and evil.
ALL of this, and still completely digestible by a young adult audience. Or by me. I’m a guy, and I don’t automatically gravitate toward romance. And I’m 46. Yeah. It’s that good. It transcends genre.
Christine Potter’s IN HER OWN TIME is more than a worthy sequel to TIME RUNS AWAY WITH HER. It’s a gateway unto itself, and anyone who doesn’t pass through is missing something seriously, totally, awesome.
Welcome back to the era of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Let’s reintroduce ourselves to the characters we fell in love with in TIME RUNS AWAY WITH HER: Rebecca “Bean” Donahue and the band—that’s also Sam and Suzanne—and also her artist boyfriend, Zak, who qualifies everything by the degree to which he deems them “bizarre.” Shake hands again with Father Tollman, and Odell, and that eternally frustrating mother figure, “Juuulia.” We know these people. It’s comfortable in Stormkill, perhaps even more so in July than in the dead of winter. We’ll see Deerfield Academy again, all the familiar places and people. I’m so totally into this … But wait—something’s wrong.
As Bean grows up, the potential of her ability, her power, seems also to have increased—and as the old saying goes, with that comes greater responsibility. Enter Crow, program director for the local radio station. Bean, Zak, and Sam might find opportunities there—or at least some intern work between semesters at school—but there’s one hell of a lot more in this entry-level stepping stone on the way to musical stardom than at first appears to be the case.
What if Bean is not alone in her talents? What if tripping decades back in time to bear witness to the tragedies (or, at least, dramas) of Deerwood Academy is only the first tentative step down, into a very dark place? In this second of the “Bean Books,” Christine Potter invites the reader into fantastical conflicts that are not only observed, but experienced. In the first book, the real danger was at home, in Bean’s Own Time, while the dangers of the past held the potential for truth and understanding—not (necessarily) palpable danger of their very own. It’s all different now. The phrase “something old, something new,” has never seemed so appropriate.
I can’t say anything more of the plot without running the risk of spoiling things for the reader. I will say this, though: it’s easy for a lazy writer to haphazardly stumble into mere “product placement” when trying to recreate an era—either for her peers or for those too young, or too far removed, to have experienced it themselves. Christine Potter avoids this with surety and deftness. The world is real, the pop culture and the news and the MUSIC is real—and if we don’t recognize a referenced track, we want to YouTube the damn thing and get in on the scene. (I did this with Grace Slick’s misguided blackface appearance on the Smothers Brothers, just to see if it was really … real. And it was!)
There’s so much going on here, as I might have said of the first book. There’s romance, yes, and fantasy—but also world rebuilding, character exploration at every level, dynamisms in personality change that come with age and change of circumstance, dissections of complex human emotional extremities that include grief, trust, and the murkiness of good and evil.
ALL of this, and still completely digestible by a young adult audience. Or by me. I’m a guy, and I don’t automatically gravitate toward romance. And I’m 46. Yeah. It’s that good. It transcends genre.
Christine Potter’s IN HER OWN TIME is more than a worthy sequel to TIME RUNS AWAY WITH HER. It’s a gateway unto itself, and anyone who doesn’t pass through is missing something seriously, totally, awesome.
January 2, 2019
The second book in Potter's Bean series is a winner and was my first read, but be sure to read all three books for best effect. Set in the 1970s, music and the period's culture dominate the settings. In Book 2, Bean and Zak are in love, the band is doing great (currently on vacation), and both have jobs at a radio station for the summer. Perfect huh, but not really. Bean continues to time travel without warning, often to 1953, but most disturbing are her flashbacks to the year 1779. For some reason, the radio station's manager, Crow, keeps traveling back with her. Turns out the year 1779 was a violent year in American history, and apparently in Crow's life, Bean learns. In fact, Bean has much to learn about Crow and time travel itself. Zak, the ever supporting boyfriend, stays by Bean's side through it all.
August 11, 2016
A Fun Read
The sequel to Time Runs Away With Her is a great way to immerse yourself in the music and culture of 1970. It comes complete with time travel to earlier and sometimes frightening places. I highly recommend it for young readers...as well as readers who are young at heart.
The sequel to Time Runs Away With Her is a great way to immerse yourself in the music and culture of 1970. It comes complete with time travel to earlier and sometimes frightening places. I highly recommend it for young readers...as well as readers who are young at heart.
July 9, 2017
Looking forward to the next installment!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews