Westfallen by Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares

 

Imagine if your actions today could change absolutely everything about the society you live in. Henry, Frances, and Lukas are three modern kids who find an old radio that allows them to communicate with kids 80 years in the past. They realize they are in the same shed in the very same back yard, and that there are ways they can send items back and forth. The kids in the past want to save their local candy store, but they also want to know the outcome of World War II, which is still very much uncertain. Even the most careful conversation can lead to dramatic changes in the future, and when the outcome of the war changes, Henry, Frances, and Lukas have just a few days to reverse the changes and restore the United States of America. This book keeps you guessing up to the end, teaches lots of history lessons, and makes you want to immediately pick up the sequel. Highly recommended for 5th-7th grades. 

Displacement by Kiku Hughes

 

In this time travel graphic novel a modern teenage girl finds herself transported (or “displaced”) back in time to a World War II internment camp for Japanese Americans. Kiki knows that her grandmother spent time in a camp, but knows very little about her experiences. After a few brief displacements, Kiki becomes stuck in the past, which gives her the  opportunity to observe her relatives and maybe even get to know them. She fully lives the life of one of the captive Japanese citizens, but longs to return to her mother in the present day. It can be hard to get kids interested in nonfiction books about this time period, and this story is an excellent gateway to learning about hard history and gaining some empathy for the Japanese people who were so callously displaced. I wished that she had actually gotten to know her grandmother better in the past, but that wasn’t the direction the story took. The art is perfectly suited to the story and will draw readers in. Highly recommended for grades 7-up. 

Are You Experienced by Jordan Sonnenblick

Everyone has heard about Woodstock, the most famous concert of the 1960s. Can you imagine being transported back in time and experiencing it for yourself? That's what happens to 15-year-old Rich. And the craziest part of all is that he is attending the concert with his then 15-year-old Dad and his then 17-year-old uncle whom he knows is going to soon die an early death. I love Jordan Sonnenblick and this book is not only a great story with his typical mix of humor and sentiment, but I also learned a lot about the experience of being at Woodstock. Of course, you couldn't describe Woodstock without including some rather mature content, so this book is recommended for 8th grade on up. If you lost music, you will especially love this book with it's appearances by Jimi Hendrix and other legendary musicians.

The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner

Tane and Rebecca, two teenagers from New Zealand, decode a cryptic computer message send through outer space, and discover winning lottery numbers. They also discover that the message came from themselves in the future, and that winning the lottery is just the beginning of what they need to do to save the world from complete devastation. They start on a quest to follow their own instructions that leads them to buy a mini-submarine, invade an island research lab, and try to save humanity from a bizarre cloud of destruction. I can't begin to explain the science behind all this—to me it was wildly implausible. But my middle school students love this book, and I will admit that it had me wanting to read to the end. Recommended for middle school kids who like science fiction, dystopia, and action.

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

In the not-so-distant future, a mosquito-bourne disease has killed off most of humankind. A small group of immune people survive and they have the technology to travel back in time. A group of "travelers" head back to 2014 to try to head off the disastrous future that they know is coming. The day they travel to 2014, a "time native" named Ethan sees a naked girl appear by the river where he is fishing. He notices a number written on her arm. He gives her a sweatshirt and she wanders away, but he never forgets her or her number. A couple of years later she shows up in one of his high school classes. Prenna lives by the rules of her people—she can never tell where she is from, never interfere with history, and never be intimate with anyone outside of her community. She tries to stay away from Ethan but they have a strong connection and when a homeless man tells them the meaning of the number that was on her arm, they learn that they need to take some action together. I enjoyed this book a lot—it's got romance, action, and time travel, and characters that you end up caring a lot about. Recommended for 7th grade and up. (My copy was an advance copy from the publisher. The book will be published in April 2014. Galloway students can borrow my copy until then.)

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sent is the first sequel to Found, in which a group of adopted children find out that they share a mysterious past. Spoiler alert: stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens in Found. The children are all historical children who either died or went missing and were taken by time travelers who intended to save their lives. But now time is messed up and the kids need to go back and repair time. Jonah, Katherine, Chip and Alex land in 1483 London where Chip and Alex turn out to be the imprisoned princes Edward and Richard. They slip into their real identities—sort of— and Jonah and Katherine try to figure out how to keep them from being killed without messing up time too much. The actual explanation and functioning of time travel aren't well developed but the plot and the characters are strong and readers will learn (along with the characters) about British history. A fun and action-packed sci fi book appropriate for 5th-8th graders.