No True Echo

by Gareth P. Jones

Overview

Eddie thinks nothing ever happens in his small, boring town. Every day is exactly the same, down to what the bus driver will say when he picks each kid up in the morning. But then, one day, someone new, and very pretty, walks onto the bus. At least, Eddie thinks she’s new, but there is something oddly familiar about Scarlett. Intrigued (and smitten), Eddie starts to follow Scarlett—and what he discovers is odder still. Scarlett is a Senior Echo Time Agent from the future, come to his town to investigate the origin of time travel, which, unbeknownst to Eddie, was invented right in his hometown, by someone he knew. Soon Eddie is swept up in the investigation and in time. But time travel is a dangerous business, and Eddie will learn more than he wants to know about his long-dead mother.

This psychologically rich thriller redefines the time travel novel for a teen audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781613124864
Publisher:	ABRAMS, Inc.
Publication date:	05/23/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	877,677
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Gareth P. Jones is the popular UK-based author of The Dragon Detective Agency series, The Considine Curse (Blue Peter Book of the Year 2012), and the Ninja Meerkats series. He is also a TV producer and plays “a slightly ludicrous number of stringed instruments.”

Editorial Reviews

07/20/2015
Eddie Dane’s life in the British town of Wellcome Valley is as predictable as it is dull: ride the bus with his friend Angus, take care of his depressed grandmother after school, feel slightly sorry for himself for having grown up without a mother, and repeat. When a redheaded girl named Scarlett shows up in town, strange things start happening, and suddenly Eddie is pulled into a repetitive loop of an entirely different kind: he starts “echo jumping” back to the same Thursday when Scarlett first arrived. In some of the altered time lines that follow, Eddie’s mother is alive; in others, Eddie is murdered. Skipping between Eddie’s story and a future in which so-called echo technology has reshaped life, Jones (Constable & Toop) offers a roller-coaster of a story that drives forward one moment, then yanks itself backward again. This playful time-bending saga twists in, out, and around so often that readers are forced to stay on their toes, but the effort is well worth it as Jones introduces heady ideas about memory, reality, and existence. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Funny and endearing...a gem."

VOYA

09/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—Eddie Dane and his best friend, Angus, are convinced Wellcome Valley is the world's most boring town, but things perk up when Scarlett White boards their bus one morning. Eddie feels drawn toward Scarlett, and isn't even annoyed when she starts asking questions about his mother's death or his relationship with his bipolar grandmother; in fact, he's intrigued enough to accompany her on an unexplained trip to a remote farmhouse. There, he witnesses a murder, and when the gun is turned on him, he suddenly finds himself back on the school bus the same day he met Scarlett. Stuck in a repeating time loop and unsure of whom to trust, Eddie pieces together the puzzle of the world as he knows it and the world as he doesn't. This work is high on suspense, sucking readers in from the first page. Alternating perspectives give glimpses into the future, hinting at events that may or may not take place, though never revealing enough to give away any secrets. Characters, even those with demons, are likable and authentic, realistically portraying the challenges of loving one's family through difficult times. While the ending feels a bit rushed and unsatisfying, overall it's an interesting look at time travel and fate that never strays into didacticism. VERDICT A mind-bending time-travel novel good for general purchase.—Kelsey Johnson-Kaiser, La Crosse Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2015-07-15
Life in scenic but soggy Wellcome Valley is so dull that figuring out what to do during midterm break poses a major challenge until Scarlett White climbs on Eddie's school bus and starts to unravel his world. An infant when his scientist single mother died in a car crash, Eddie lives with his artist grandmother, loving but unstable, and hangs out with his best friend, Angus. Like the valley, home and school are predictably boring. Mr. Cornish, their passionately opinionated English teacher, livens things up when he assigns Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, making it an object lesson on hubris and abuses of power. As their friendship grows, Scarlett asks Eddie probing questions about his mother's death yet is stubbornly secretive about herself. Smitten and intrigued, Eddie contrives to run into her outside school and discovers her spying on Mr. Cornish. Following her, Eddie witnesses a horrific murder that may be tied to his own parentage, then abruptly finds himself back on the school bus with Angus the day they met Scarlett—except this time she doesn't get on the school bus, and only Eddie remembers she existed. Eddie's voice is likable, smart without being snarky or florid. At once a classic time-travel narrative and resonant fable about the price to be paid when we alter our world simply because we can, this smart, satisfying eco-techno-thriller with heart transcends genre. (Science fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews