The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens

by Henry Clark

Overview

This never-before-seen twist on time travel adventure explores the theme of accepting those who are different—and having the courage to join them. The moment Ambrose Brody steps into a fortune-teller's tent, he is whisked into a quest that spans millennia with his best friend, an enigmatic carnival girl, and an unusual family heirloom that drops them into the middle of the nineteenth century!

The year 1852 is a dangerous time for three non-white children, and they must work together to dodge slave-catchers and save ancestors from certain death—all while figuring out how to get back to the future. Fortunately, they have a guide in the helpful hints embedded in an ancient Chinese text called the I-Ching, which they interpret using Morse Code. But how can a three-thousand-year-old book be sending messages into the future through a code developed in the 1830s? Find out in this mind-bending, time-bending adventure!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316406178
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/14/2015
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Henry Clark is the author of What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World. He has contributed articles to MAD magazine and published fiction in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, in addition to acting as the head phrenologist at Old Bethpage Village Restoration, a living-history museum in New York. He lives on Long Island.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2015
Gr 4–6—Struggling with the news that his father is a "trans-temporal"—a person who is "not comfortable wearing the clothing of the twenty-first century"—Ambrose Brody is whisked back in time with his best friend Tom Xiu and a new friend, Shofranka Camlo. Shofranka, or Frankie, and her family are keepers of the Shagbolt, a trombone that enables time travel when the correct notes are played. The three find themselves in their Ohio hometown in 1852, a time that is unsafe for nonwhites: Ambrose is biracial, Frankie is Romani, and Tom is Chinese American. Tom's overbearing mother and rigorous piano and school study are a little stereotypical, but these traits are tempered with a knowing comment from Frankie about the dangers of believing in "ethnic stereotypes." This is a fun, whimsical read, and most chapters end with a cliff-hanger. The action is relatively tame, though there are several mentions of violence toward slaves. Clark weaves a great deal of factual information into the narrative: within the first 50 pages, readers can learn how to use the I Ching and Morse Code. At times, this results in stilted, pedantic dialogue. However, the story's humor, originality, and message of tolerance even out its small flaws, and this would be a good next step for fans of Jon Scieszka's "Time Warp Trio" (Puffin). An accessible read with a diverse cast, this is recommended for general purchase.—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2015-01-20
Where time travel, historical fiction and nonfiction, ancient Chinese design and Morse code collide—keep up, or risk being left in the past…or the future. Narrator Ambrose "Bro" Brody, a middle schooler with an Irish father and an Afro-French-Canadian mother, fears his family will suffer due to his father's embrace of his "trans-temp," or cross-time-dressing, identity, teaching middle school dressed as different historical figures. Shofranka "Frankie" Camlo, a Romany who travels with her father's carnival, and Tom Xui, Bro's best friend, a Chinese-American kid who loves history and uses big words as expletives, try to help Bro learn his fate. The boys accompany Frankie to retrieve the Camlo Shagbolt (a time trombone), but when trouble arises, Frankie blows the horn's "area code" for another decade and takes them back to 1852. Since the Fugitive Slave Act makes the trio a target for slave catchers, they run for their lives often, changing the future when they interact with ancestors. They are not without resources: Mr. Ganto, a Gigantopithecus, is their guardian; Tom can read the hexagrams in China's I-Ching: The Book of Changes and extract Morse code messages from them; Bro is clairvoyant; and Frankie is skilled at playing the Shagbolt. These elements combine to help the friends avert one historical disaster after another. A worthwhile if convoluted read that will extend readers' knowledge of history and expand their concept of "diversity." (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Review

Praise for The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens:

A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of 2016*"The characters are well-crafted and charming.... School librarians and teachers will definitely want to add this to their collections."—School Library Connection, starred review

"Where time travel, historical fiction and nonfiction, ancient Chinese design and Morse code collide—keep up, or risk being left in the past...or the future. [This book] will extend readers' knowledge of history and expand their concept of 'diversity.'"—Kirkus Reviews

"This is such a terrifically fun, mind-bending book, I want to go back in time so I can start reading it again!"—Chris Grabenstein, author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and co-author of the I Funny and Treasure Hunters series.

"Zany, clever, endlessly inventive and genuinely one-of-a-kind."—Trenton Lee Stewart, author of The Mysterious Benedict Society

From the Publisher