A Circle of Time
Grade 6-10-This time-travel, historical mystery begins as 14-year-old Allison Blair is struck by a car and almost killed. While she is grasping onto life in a coma, she is whisked away in time by Becky, who has come to 1996 from 1906 to gain Allison's help. The book flashes back and forth between the hospital, with Becky in Allison's body and about to undergo brain surgery, and 1906 on a California estate owned by a wealthy Spanish family. There, Allison meets Joshua, who was Becky Thompson's boyfriend before her untimely death. Once she convinces him of her situation, he becomes her ally and helps her change history. The focus shifts to Sadie Thompson and Don Carlos, the estate owner, and the mystery of what happened to his daughter's baby years earlier. While Allison's lessons to Joshua about feminist history detract a bit from the sense of urgency, this is still an enjoyable, compelling read. Much like Caroline B. Cooney's Both Sides of Time (Laurel-Leaf, 1997), it takes on a romantic spin, along with the old Wizard of Oz theme of Allison's just wanting to click her heels three times and be back in the comfort zone of home.Nicole M. Marcuccilli, Glenview Public Library, ILCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.