RIGHT WHERE WE BELONG

With the STEM boarding school her father taught at under threat and a time-traveling friend in need, high school senior Delaney will have to find the confidence in herself to save them both.

Conflict-avoidant scholarship student Delaney tends to let others tell her what she should want and what she should do, whether that’s studying to become a dentist (to satisfy her parents) or writing for the school paper (to please her friend Analiese). Since her father’s death in the spring, Delaney has felt adrift and unmotivated, although Ivernia School’s yearlong game of Capture the Flag and the presence of her classmate and academic rival Sumner center her and bring out her competitive streak. But one night Delaney not only learns of the school’s potential (and imminent) closure, she also collides with William—or Lord William Alexander Cromwell of Dunbry—a boy pulled from 19th-century Britain to present-day Lake Placid, New York, by a geomagnetic phenomenon. It’s up to her, Sumner, and their friends to send William home, where he’ll play an important role affecting their contemporary lives. While the time travel element verges on distracting from the modern-day explorations of grief, relationships, and self-knowledge, these themes make the narrative glow with their authenticity. Delaney’s and Sumner’s sharp banter lightens the story, highlighting moments of affection and support that contribute to a compelling and genuine romance. The leads are cued white, and Sumner has some Argentinian heritage.

Sweet, heartfelt, and punchy.