Timeless
After her mother is killed in an automobile accident, Michelle Windsor is flown from her cozy Venice Beach, California, neighborhood to the palatial New York City home of her grandparents, whom, due to strained family relationships, she has never met. In this new, wealthy environment, she is introduced to the family history through a diary that transports her back to 1910 and details a feud between the Windsors and the Walkers. In a riff on Romeo and Juliet, Michelle falls for Phillip Walker and must decide how to extricate herself from their romance so that he can live a rich and fulfilling life in his own time and space. The narrative occasionally feels overwritten, and the swings to and from the early twentieth century can be choppy, while the historical characters have a less authentic feel than those of the present day. Still, debut author Monir has crafted an intriguing time-travel fantasy that will be an easy sell to romance fans, who will hope for a sequel. Grades 7-10. --Frances Bradburn