Time Travel in Middle Grade Literature

INTRODUCTION

Time Traveling with a Hamster (Yearling, 2018) by Ross Welford, my second time travel mentor novel, is totally different than The Devil’s Arithmetic .

REVIEW

At least that’s what I initially thought. But then one night when I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about time travel and how I was going to incorporate it into Out of the Flame, I changed my mind. Both middle grade books take the character (and the reader) back in time. Hamster uses a lot of science (or presumed science, I should say) whereas Arithmetic doesn’t.

Like I mentioned in my review of The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah opens the door from her New York apartment and travels back to the German/Polish border during WWII . She wants to change what she knows is going to happen, but she also knows that she never will. She travels once and comes back to the present day. She is changed, but the past has not. She has witnessed the past and as her family admonishes her, she will never forget it.

On Al’s 12th birthday he opens a letter from his dead geeky father with instructions on how to go into the past and prevent his death. Talk about a mind-blowing birthday gift! With a lot of trepidation but also excitement, Al follows his father’s instructions and ends up in the same town he has grown up in, only thirty years earlier.

Unlike Hannah, Al not only has specific instructions on how to go into the past but he has a purpose. And, if he accomplishes this goal, Al will change the future. Which implies a lot of scientific narrative about space-time paradoxes The two books also differ in that Al travels back and forth several times. One strong similarity is that whereas time elapses in the past, it does not in the present day. In both books the characters are aware of being in a new world and the characters arrive back in the “now” where nothing much has changed. Hannah gradually loses a sense of where she has traveled from, whereas Al never does.

Although I enjoyed the scientific/philosophical problems that Al wrestled with (what would happen if he met himself coming or going? What if he doesn’t save his father from his death? Does that mean he wouldn’t exist in the future?) I can’t imagine creating a story with these scientific (or perhaps pseudo-scientific?) tenets. At this point, I plan to stick to Jane Yolen’s model of my character being surprised by traveling back without any idea of why or where he is going.

LIKES & DISLIKES

What I liked:

• Al’s voice and how he talks directly to the reader; it was as if he was talking to a friend. It hooked me and would hook a middle grade reader.
• Time travel was fun and suspenseful. As a reader, I was afraid for what might happen to Al. That’s always good reader investment.
• The plot was imaginative and for the most part easy to follow.
• Backstory was introduced seamlessly.
• Grandpa Byron, Al’s grandfather, is a fully developed important secondary character. You can read the book just to learn how important secondary characters can be!

What I didn’t like:

• Towards the end of the book the time travel seemed to change and the space-time dimension was confusing. Al went into another period of time that was never identified and never actually happened. That might have been the author’s intention–to show the possibility of other space/time dimensions–but I’m a pretty concrete thinker so that was confusing.
• I also got a little lost in the weeds when Al had to create his own time machine. But, that could easily be me wanting the story to progress and not wanting to bother with the details!

OUT OF THE FLAME UPDATE

Remember that night I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking so much about time travel? I also was very aware that I needed to convey the differences in “modern” technology between 1750 and 1893 in glasshouses and in everyday life. Here’s a bit of backstory.

Years ago I became enamored with the history, science, and art of glass. I wrote a nonfiction book for kids titled, Discover Glass, but the publisher went out of business soon after I completed it. I vowed that one day I would use the research and information I had learned in other ways. I also was intrigued by the fact that basic glass making tools haven’t changed in millennia. Although some of the same tools are used today, the technology behind the glass houses changed considerably over the centuries.

I needed to know these details, as well as other cultural and societal differences between Andrew, my 1893 character, and Noah, my 1750 character.

I don’t use AI much, but it helped me create this three-columned chart. After I inserted the categories, I started brainstorming. As you’ll see, I not only compared technologies, but also clothing, hairstyles, and food. It’s all about world building!

Put your cursor inside the chart and scroll down to view the chart–which is a WIP itself. Even if you’re not writing time travel, a chart like this will help you keep track of your setting.

WRITING HELPS

If you are a writer, what tools have you used to keep track of your settings and characters? If you are a reader, what setting or character inconsistencies have you noticed in books?

MMGM

Remember to check out Greg Pattridge’s MMGM blog on Monday. Always amazing recommendations!