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From School Library Journal

August 1, 2023

Gr 3-5-In beloved author Graff's latest effort, McKinley O'Dair has created the perfect 1990s outfit for the annual Time Hop, and she cannot wait to walk in the fashion show with her best friend, Meg. When her rigid father humiliates her at the event, and she has a terrible fight with Meg, McKinley suddenly finds herself transported back in time to 1993. With help from Meg's mom-then, a middle schooler herself-McKinley searches for a way back, all while learning what supportive friendship can look like. This is well-worn ground for Graff, who favors protagonists on the path to bettering themselves. The story is at its most effective when exploring the nuances of relationship dynamics, particularly between McKinley and the kid version of her dad, an endlessly frustrating prankster who has little interest in her efforts to be kind, forcing her to confront truths about herself and the father she knows now. Graff makes sure to nod to time travel predecessors such as Madeleine L'Engle and H.G. Wells, and immerses readers in everything 1990s, from the cultural references to the chapter titles, each of which is a hit song from the era. VERDICT Fans of Graff will surely gravitate towards this approachable middle grade story with a splash of sci-fi to spice things up.-Alexandra Quay

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

July 1, 2023
Grades 5-7 Playing on the theme that the hardest person to see is the one in the mirror, Graff sends bossy 12-year-old McKinley O'Dair 25 years back in time to meet younger versions of the grownups in her life and, she logically concludes, to do something to steer future events. But what? Though her science teacher is as hostile in 1993 as 2018 and, heartbreakingly, her warm and loving grandmother hasn't had her massive stroke yet, several shocks await--notably, discoveries that her future single dad is an angry punk with an undiagnosed learning disability and that her best friend's wise and bighearted future mom is a nasty bully. While folding in funny touches, quaint detail, and wrenching family drama, the author expertly opens up her characters, allowing readers to understand how we are all works in progress. Even McKinley, by the time she finally snaps back to her era, has a clearer vision of her own manipulative tendencies and a sincere resolution to accept others for who they are.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

June 19, 2023
When the father of sixth grader McKinley O'Dair requests that she stay home with Grandma Bevâ€"whose speech and mobility are impacted by a stroke she had 20 years agoâ€"McKinley is devastated. While she normally wouldn't mind hanging out with her grandmother, today it means that McKinley will miss celebrating 1993 at her town's annual Time Hop, a party thrown every June to commemorate a single year in history. The fashion-obsessed 12-year-old has spent weeks preparing her outfit for the Time Hop fashion show with help from Grandma Bev, so McKinley takes Grandma Bev along, but after a fight with her best friend and her father's unexpected arrival, McKinley is bounced back to the real 1993. There, she meets her hyper-organized father as a sixth grader, as well as younger versions of other adults from her contemporary life. With classic Back to the Future flair, Graff (Far Away) employs snarky prose and abundant early 1990s callbacks to explore issues surrounding fate, destiny, and connection in this immersive, laugh-out-loud time-travel novel that highlights friendship, acceptance, and intergenerational bonds via one 12-year-old's wish to find a placeâ€"or timeâ€"in which she truly belongs. Main characters read as white. Ages 8â€"12. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.

From Kirkus

June 15, 2023
Is going back in time about changing outcomes or changing perspective? McKinley's going to find out. Sixth grader McKinley is excited about Time Hop, her town's annual history celebration, which this time is celebrating the year 1993. In 1993, her father was also a sixth grader--and at the same school where the event is held. Taught to sew by her Grandma Bev, a talented seamstress even after suffering a stroke in 1993 that affected her speech and left half her body paralyzed, McKinley creates a fabulously retro outfit for the fashion show. But on the big day, her single father needs to work, and he asks McKinley to stay home to give Grandma Bev her medications. Instead, she decides to bring her grandma to the Time Hop, but it's a disaster. McKinley has a fight with her best friend, then her father shows up and orders her off the runway. McKinley runs away--and right back in time to 1993. The third-person voice is bright and energetic, while vivid descriptions capture the cast of predominantly White characters as their present and past selves. McKinley is especially endearing, ringing true as a confused, creative, well-meaning tween who realizes she may have been sent back in time to solve a problem--but which one? Or is this journey all about gaining insight so she can better handle her life? The philosophical questions are delivered with a light touch. Quirky and smart. (Fiction. 8-12)

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