From the Publisher
Entertaining and heart-warming... A story to remember.” —Library Media Connection
“Time travel is tricky. Barrows, though, proves she knows the way around the paradoxes that can stymie science fiction writers... The plot is fast paced and thrilling.” —VOYA
“Barrows examines many of the previously unanswered, difficult questions of time travel but does not answer all mysteries, paving the way for a possible third book.” —Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal - Audio
12/01/2014
Gr 3–6—Molly and Miri haven't always been sisters; they were brought together through magic. Molly is originally from 1935 but became Miri's fraternal twin in Miri's contemporary family (with two other sets of twins; one older, one younger) when they traveled through time. The girls travel first to 1918, where Molly meets her mother and wonders if she's supposed to prevent her parents from meeting in order to save her mother from dying in childbirth. But there seems to be another task in store for the girls. They travel to the 1860s, accidentally joined by their brothers, who are dressed as Union soldiers for a Civil War reenactment and are captured by Confederate soldiers. The girls must figure out how to save their brothers and return to their own time. The fast-paced plot is dramatically narrated by Cris Dukehart, with Southern accents, deep voices, or a snarky tone for villains and much lighter voices for the children. The narration accentuates the drama of the action and the children's contemporary language. Not all questions are addressed, however, leaving open the possibility of another time-travel tale.—Maria Salvadore, District of Columbia
Kirkus Reviews
2014-07-16
The time-traveling adventures of Molly and Miri Gill continue, with even higher stakes. Molly and Miri are the only members of their family who know Molly was not always Miri's twin. In The Magic Half (2008), Miri saved Molly from a life of abuse in 1935, bringing Molly to Miri's own time and family, where, according to Molly's magically knowledgeable grandmother, she was supposed to be born. Now both Molly and Miri possess double sets of memories: Each remembers her life before they were twins as well as her life as a twin. This bothers Molly, and when their magic house sends them back to 1918, she is sure it is to prevent her birth mother from having her—thereby preventing her mother's death—but they are returned to the present abruptly. When they try to go back to 1918, they end up in the American Civil War, and when their twin brothers later unwittingly travel through time—in Civil War re-enactment dress, no less—and are taken prisoner, it will take the girls' combined wit, courage and cleverness to save their brothers from certain death and use magic to "[set] things right." Barrows examines many of the previously unanswered, difficult questions of time travel but does not answer all mysteries, paving the way for a possible third book.If another adventure is to come, readers will hope it won't take another six years to arrive. (Fantasy. 8-12)
