August 25, 2026 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Ben has to move from Tennessee to Rutledge, South Carolina, after the death of his mother. Since his father had passed away when he was a baby, he has to live with his grandmother, Martha Turner, whom he has never met. She’s a brusque, quiet woman inhabiting the Clifton House mansion, built in 1825, which has a creepy vibe to it. The grandmother tells Ben that he should never touch the clocks or go to the third floor, but then leaves him to his own devices, telling him to play outside. Ben meets Ollie, who is trying to catch a skittish stray dog, and she takes Ben to the public library to meet Ash. The three decide to investigate the mysteries of Clifton House, and start with asking the library director, Raleigh, for help. Armed with a little information, they proceed to go directly to the third floor, and get magically swept back in time to 2004 where they meet Ben’s mother, Hope, her twin sister Grace, and Martha when she was younger. The grandmother, in her current 61 year old incarnation, is also there, posing as the housekeeper, Mrs. Dowers. Family secrets are revealed, and Ben and his grandmother try to change the past. Will they be able to change the trajectory of the family?
Strengths: This had a very clever time travel method, and the link to the great great great grandfather’s study of horology was interesting. Traveling back in time and meeting one’s parents is always fascinating; one of my daughter’s favorite books in middle school was Page’s Rewind. It was great that Ben met two local children right away, and Raleigh was a great character who played a bigger than expected role in the book. Ben tells Ollie early on that he is gay, and I enjoyed that it is just part of who he is and doesn’t become a focus of the story. There are some very modern touches to the family tragedy, but also some room for a sequel, since Ben’s grandfather was lost somehere in time. There’s a lot of very realistic uses of time travel, and some raw emotions that come into play and motivate the characters. There haven’t been too many time travel books published lately, but it’s always an interesting topic.
Weaknesses: There’s a note by the author linking his previous books The Whispers and The Visitors as his “Grief Trilogy”. Adult gatekeepers seem to enjoy the middle grade trope of grieving a lot more than my students and I do. I’m very sorry that Mr. Howard had such a hard time dealing with his own mother’s death, but I still have trouble getting my students to read books on this topic, especially since there are so many of them. Also, as a 61 year old woman, it seemed a bit off for the grandmother to be wearing a black dress and living in a house with Victorian era decor; also, I’m pretty sure that as a 40 year old, I would have recognized my 61 year old self, even if the time traveling was aging.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed DeStefano’s The Girl with the Ghost Machine, Haydu’s Eventown, or Urban’s Almost There and Almost Not.
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