THE SECOND CHANCE YEAR

A 30-year-old gets a re-try at the worst year of her life.

Sadie Thatcher has had a Very Bad Year. She was fired from her job as assistant pastry chef at a high-profile restaurant and her boyfriend of three years dumped her. She blames both things on her inability to keep her mouth shut, just as her mother always warned her. Alex, her ex, wanted her to play nice around his asshole Wall Street colleagues, and Xavier, her boss, wouldn’t tolerate her pushing back on his abusive behavior. Without a job, she’s given up her beloved studio in Williamsburg and is crashing in the spare room of her little brother’s best friend, Jacob, nursing her wounds with ice cream and The Golden Girls. As the year closes, she grudgingly agrees to join her best friend, Kasumi, at a circus-themed New Year’s Eve party where, drunk and filled with regret, she asks the fortune-teller for a do-over of the entire year. As the title suggests, the magic works. Sadie wakes up in her studio with Alex by her side and her old job waiting for her. She’s going to do better this time: bite her tongue around the finance bros, yes-chef her boss, and try to forget that sizzling New Year’s Eve kiss she shared with Jacob in the hours before the clock reset. Wiesner wisely does not put too fine a point on the time travel, offering instead a thoughtful exploration of Sadie’s growth as well as the ingrained unfairness of being a woman in a man’s world. Sadie is spunky and her outspoken sense of justice is wonderful. Jacob knows it. Kasumi values it. But Sadie is ambitious, and her mother’s voice echoes loudly in her head. Will she get what she wants by ignoring her conscience, and will it be worth it?

Tough themes with a light touch and many winning characters.