The Boy from Tomorrow

DeAngelis, Camille. The Boy from Tomorrow
May 8th 2018 by Amberjack Publishing
E ARC from Netgalley.com

When Alec moves into 444 Sparrow Street after his parents' divorce, his expectations are pretty low. He does manage to make some new friends quickly, and finds a cool Ouija type board stuck in a cupboard. When he and his friends get messages that make some sense, he realizes that he is communicating with a girl names Josie who lived in the house 100 years ago. In alternating passages, we see how this communication across time affects both children. Josie is able to gets information about the future, some of which she shares with her professional clairvoyant mother, who is more concerned with her clientele than her children. Josie and her young sister Cass have a governess, Emily, who is very kind, but their mother will lock Cass into a cupboard for an entire day for even small transgressions. On Alec's side, he finds out about the fate of the girls as they get older, and encourages them to seek help, especially once Emily is sent away. Can a friendship across time save both children from unfortunate occurrences in their lives?
Strengths: I find the spiritualist movements in the early 20th century very interesting, and Schlitz's A Drowned Maiden's Hair is one of my daughter's favorites. Saw this compared to Tom's Midnight Garden, and that's not a bad comparison. There's no time travel, but definitely a feel of that. The sisters' relationship is interesting, and I loved that Alec talked to his mom about everything and she believed him. Clipped along at a nice pace, and had some good creepy moments.
Weaknesses: I really wanted the characters to eventually meet, but the 100 year difference makes this impossible.
What I really think: I don't have a lot of call for this type of book, so I will only purchase it if I have funds left towards the end of next year.