Fast-Forward to the Future!: A Branches Book (Time Jumpers #3)

Time Jumpers #3

by Wendy Mass, Oriol Vidal (Illustrator)

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!

This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

Chase and Ava are ready for their next adventure! When they touch a glowing cube in their magic suitcase, they jump forward in time! In the future, they find awesome flying cars and tons of robots. But they don't have much time to explore . . . bad guy Randall is after them! Chase and Ava need to act fast to put the cube back where it belongs. Will they complete their mission . . . or will Randall steal the cube? Oriol Vidal's engaging illustrations appear on every page. Newly independent readers will eat up this time-travel series from New York Times bestselling author Wendy Mass.

Genres: Childrens, Adventure, Fantasy, Time Travel, Fiction, Middle Grade

96 pages, Paperback

Published February 26, 2019

About the author

Wendy Mass is the author of thirty novels for young people, including A Mango-Shaped Space, which was awarded the Schneider Family Book Award, Leap Day, the Twice Upon a Time fairy tale series, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, the Willow Falls, Space Taxi and Candymakers series. Wendy wrote the storyline for an episode of the television show Monk, entitled "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theatre," which aired during the show's second season. She tells people her hobbies are hiking and photography, but really they're collecting candy bar wrappers and searching for buried treasure with her metal detector. Wendy lives with her family in New Jersey.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: Chase bolts upright in bed. What is making so much noise? Why are his bedroom lights flashing in the middle of the night?

Premise/plot: Chase and Ava have a THIRD adventure in Wendy Mass' newest early chapter book. This brother and sister team have traveled twice into the past. This will be their first jump to the FUTURE. The object the two must return to its proper time is a GLOWING CUBE. What will these two make of the future they see? Will they perhaps even catch a glimpse of themselves in the future? Will they get any more clues as to WHO is behind the suitcase and WHY Randall keeps following them?

My thoughts: I have enjoyed the previous books in the series. This may just be my favorite. I didn't think that visiting the future would be as fun as visiting the past--but it was. I loved seeing some of the advancements--especially in terms of clothes shopping. I definitely would recommend this series to young readers.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This new series for Scholastic's Branches imprint for newly independent readers fills a niche for students who aren't quite ready for text-only books or chapter books with few images. The Branches imprint has helped several nieces and nephews and students make the leap from beloved picture books to reading by themselves in chapter books.

In this third installment, Time Jumpers: Fast-forward to the Future, a brother and sister use an artifact they pluck from a mysterious suitcase (given to them at a local flea market) to travel in time--on this occasion, to the future. They visit their hometown several decades hence, with the bad guy who wants to ruin history hot on their trail. Their task is to replace a robot prototype (that mysteriously has the access codes for the space program) into a historical exhibit before the shutdown of the future's space program.

The Time Jumpers series in general borrows heavily from Magic Treehouse with some minor exceptions and from Back to the Future (for this book), and the narration is a bit more natural than in prior books, but not as good as in Dragon Masters, which has become sort of a gold standard for me as far as the Branches books go, so I knocked off a couple stars. In addition, if this robot is such a linchpin, the general lack of guards and security at the museum is astounding. This book is not terribly well thought through.

I also don't love series for young children that promote keeping secrets from their parents and going off on adventures on their own when dangerous adults are around and keep following them--I think it sets a bad example and that some children who read the series will get ideas for their own behavior that can jeopardize their safety. I have the same problem with Magic Treehouse. Parents should be aware of that aspect of the storyline and read through these books with their children and discuss those elements with them.

Overall I like the series, and I think it will appeal to adventuresome boys and girls (precocious preschoolers through 3rd Graders), but I'm not sure how much re-readability it will have.

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chase and Ava find an old suitcase filled with strange objects. They know by now that they are tasked with returning the objects to their rightful places to save the Earth.

A little glowing box gets brighter and brighter. Mum asks them what it is. She picks it up but doesn't travel. Chase and Ava realise she's not a Time Jumper. They quickly divert their mothers' attention and without touching it, take the glowing box upstairs.

What adventure will they go on this time? They are whisked away but it's not the same as the last two times to the past. It feels different. They are in the future. What is the box and where does it belong?

They discover the paper money they have with them, is not used in the future. They still have Randall following them to stop them from returning the box.

The box becomes a small robot called Jeeves. He needs to return to the museum. He has a code in his programming which can save the space program. Randall is trying to stop them.

This is a great adventure for early readers. Wendy Mass has a wonderful formula for a great children's series.

[zapkode · Rating 5 out of 5]

{My thoughts} – Chase and Ava pick up from the last book right where they had left off. I strongly suggest that these books are read in order because of how they are written as continuations from the previous book.

Ava and Chase get to go on another time traveling adventure. Only this time things don’t exactly go as they had planned. They make the best out of, especially after they find out they didn’t go back into the past but instead into the future!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it is a great addition to the series and I think that any child would enjoy reading it as well. This book has all the elements you’d like to see in a really nice book for your child. It has a eye grabbing cover, it has some nice illustrations scattered throughout the pages and it has a fun storyline that helps to pull the reader into the pages of the book without them realizing it is happening.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

After another successful mission, Chase and Ava hope for a rest but, oh no, the cube jumps out of the suitcase and they are off on another trip. Where to this time? It looks like it is the future. Now what does the cube have to do with the future?

This was imaginative. Technology that is being tested today is in common use in the future. I like how Chase and Ava can go to any store and buy what they need without cash. They have it but the reaction to it is funny. Finding out the cube is for the space agency and why the cube is used by them was shocking. Meeting future people was surprising. Of course, Randall has to spoil the future also. Boo-hiss! But as the good heroes they are, they handle Randall with ease and complete their mission.

[Cindy Cobleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the story with a group of higher level 2nd graders. It worked well. There is not a lot of character development but the characters are distinctive and well defined. It was engaging for them to travel to the future and have a peek at what the world might look like. The series, of which this is the 3rd, rotates around a suitcase full of objects that each need to be returned to a point in history. The object to be returned in this book was a robot. At the conclusion of the story, the robot focus enabled me to introduce the group and then the whole class to Ozobots and to do some color coding.

[Shannon Thevenin · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books are very similar to the magic treehouse books but I actually find them more engaging. Just like magic treehouse, each book is its own adventure with the overall plot continuing across the books. I think one thing that makes these fun is that the bad guy is the same in each book. My 5 year old is always so excited to hear what happens next when she sees Randall show up. We love them!

[Advit Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story like this could entertain you because in this book there are two kids who get an old rusted suitcase from the flea market and whenever they touch something inside the suitcase they travel through time.😁

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, our main characters time travel to the future & see flying cars and robots ! Great book! Cute!

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good.

[Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read book 1 and book 3. Better if the books are read in order but the reader could still understand the plot if read out of order.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because for once they actually went to the Future and the cube they were holding it in a suitcase was a robot!!!!!

[Fenco Chen]

Lexile®: 590L

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeeves is the best

[Kabir Ravitej · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too much pro-robot propaganda. Plus this one didn’t hold my 6 year old’s attention as well as the previous books in the series.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was exciting and easy to read and I liked that I got to see someone's opinion on what the future is going to be like.