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Look Ahead, Look Back

Name: Look Ahead, Look Back
Author: Annette Laing
ISBN: 978-0-9848101-0-9

From the The Snipesville Chronicles series , Vol. 3

by Annette Laing ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 7, 2012

An often entertaining addition to an enjoyable series, despite some awkward dialogue.

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Three plucky kids from Snipesville, Georgia, travel back to 1752 in this third installment of Laing’s (A Different Day, A Different Destiny, 2012, etc.) time-travel series for readers ages 10 and up.

Siblings Hannah and Alex Dias and their friend Brandon Clark previously traveled back to World War II–era Britain and the Victorian period but were unable to control when and where they went. They received occasional guidance from kooky professor Kate Harrower, who tried to help them solve a mystery each time; this time, however, Harrower is nowhere to be seen. When the kids find a portrait from 1752 of what looks like Hannah’s face, they have the familiar feeling that they’ll be sent traveling yet again. Sure enough, they eventually find themselves back in the same British town of Balesworth where their previous adventures took place, but this time, it’s 1752. Hannah becomes a cook and maid in the home of one Mrs. Jenkins, Brandon becomes an apprentice to a stuffy clergyman named Mr. Osborn, and Alex spends time with local slaves. Together, the trio must figure out how the portrait came to be and how to survive the cruelty of the society around them. The stakes get even higher when they end up in 1752-era Snipesville and realize how dangerous life on a Southern plantation can be. Laing’s third volume retains all the charm and originality of the earlier two, as she uses her three-dimensional characters and engaging storytelling to teach young readers a bit of history. Some of the dialogue, though, especially Hannah’s, remains a little flat; there are too many lines, such as “You and Brandon are such total wusses,” that feel like an adult’s conception of petulant teen speech rather than the real thing. The larger reasons (and rules) behind time travel continue to be a mystery to both characters and readers, which is a bit frustrating after three books. It seems, however, that Laing is leaving these questions open to encourage more sequels—and hopefully she’ll deliver.

An often entertaining addition to an enjoyable series, despite some awkward dialogue.

Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-9848101-0-9

Page Count: 233

Publisher: Confusion Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2016

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
by Annette Laing

- BOOK REVIEW
A Different Day, A Different Destiny
by Annette Laing

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REFUGEE

by Alan Gratz ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.

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Our Verdict

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Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2017

New York Times Bestseller

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.

Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)