15 MINUTES

Imagine being able to go back in time—just 15 minutes—to undo something you did or said. That’s what seventh-grader Casey can do with his grandfather’s old watch. It allows him to say the right thing instead of the wrong thing to girls, to elude a bully’s daily dunking and to be at the right place in the right time on the football field. This engaging premise is tricked out with a snappy cover, obtrusive design, inclusion of familiar boy-author names, and occasional opportunities for the reader to add to the story—but it doesn’t need those bells and whistles. Casey is an appealing and well-developed character, the plot moves along swiftly, once it gets going, and the story ends happily with our hero beginning to understand the bully as well as to cope with his bullying ways. An easy sell for fifth- and sixth-graders. (Fiction. 10-12)