Slip

A teenage girl navigates high school and plans for her future while dealing with accidental trips back in time in Storms’ YA novel.

On the surface, Penelope Jane “PJ” Ellis is an ordinary high school junior: A diligent and dedicated student, she has a passion for running and is a member of her school’s cross-country team. But belying outward appearances, PJ suffers from severe panic attacks that periodically cause her to slip nine minutes and 53 seconds back in time and experience the same events with slightly different outcomes. As she describes it, “It’s like someone stole a bookmark from my book and returned it to an earlier chapter, so a chapter I already read ends up being overwritten somehow.” The only person who knows is her best friend, Mariana Salvadore, who gives PJ the nickname “Slip” for her ability to travel back in time. When a classmate named Ethan Morrow shows an interest in her, she experiences the joys and nervous excitement that come with a first crush. As their connection becomes romantic, she discovers that she does not slip as much in his presence. Despite her comfort with Ethan, however, her panic attacks and subsequent slipping do not completely disappear, leaving her to wonder if she will ever be able to have a normal relationship. Storms’ novel deftly balances magical realism with a sensitively observed portrait of a teenage girl struggling with debilitating panic attacks. PJ is an amiable and relatable protagonist who tries to maintain a normal life despite her extraordinary ability to slip back in time, and the supporting characters are equally well drawn. Storms is a natural storyteller who seamlessly integrates PJ’s time travel without breaking the narrative’s momentum, as exemplified in a scene early in the novel in which PJ slips back in time and rescues a girl from drowning. The fully dimensional characters and realistic portrait of high school life ground the fantastical elements in reality and bring the story to a strong conclusion.

A thoughtful and satisfying blend of magical realism and romance.