Reaching Through Time

By: Lurlene McDaniel
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73461-5
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor 
Review Date: August 30, 2011

This amazing book offers three outstanding novellas that whisk the reader into supernatural and fantastical times. From intrigue to romance to complete inspiration, each and every tale is a whole lot of fun!

In the first, "What’s Happened to Me?," a young girl wakes up in a field. She has no memory of who she is or where she came from. In fact, the only thing she has is a whisper of voices calling her, begging her to come back. In her new ‘home,’ Sarah finds an extremely handsome boy/man by the name of Heath de Charon. The estate he has rivals that of Mr. Darcy’s, and his kindness and beauty is truly extraordinary. What he doesn’t have is the answers as to how Sarah appeared in his field, and why she can’t seem to get out. From disappearing servants to mythical carvings to a frightening maze, Sarah finds herself trying to solve the mystery of what will happen to her next.

In "When the Clock Chimes," a young boy named Drake takes a summer job, helping to catalogue an archaeologist’s papers. This professor from Harvard is the father of a young girl by the name of Gina, and she becomes Drake’s best friend as he struggles each and every day through a forest of brambles, up a path, to a huge, old house that has tremendous secrets living inside. When a strange old clock begins to tell the wrong time and offers up a chime that causes thrills and chills inside Drake’s soul, the young man soon finds himself stuck in a mystery of monumental proportions.

And, in the exciting conclusion, "The Mysteries of Chance," readers meet up with a time traveler by the name of Maura. When Maura suddenly appears on a lawn in a normal, everyday neighborhood, a boy named Dylan sees her appear out of nowhere, and can barely catch his breath when he finds out Maura’s secret. As the reader is taken on a journey of love, help and friendship, the author goes from the present to the future and thrills her audience to the extreme.

Each and every story attracts the mind and allows teenagers to open up their imaginations, as they take the ride of their lives with three extremely strong characters.

Quill Says: A trio of unforgettable, fantastical stories that are a true gift to the YA market!