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2018: The Year of Time Travel

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Was 2018 the year of time travel in YA? It certainly seems that way to me, based on the number of times I ran across one while reading reviews of new releases. I’m not one to complain – I’ve always loved the concept, and I think it’s such a great topic to mine for imaginative plots. In 2018, I counted 14 titles where time travel was the main plot driver, and I read a few of them myself for the Cybils award this year. Almost none of them were published by a big 5 publisher, which I think is interesting. Unfortunately, it’s not a very diverse list; here’s hoping 2019 will bring more diversity to the time travel theme.

Future Lost by Elizabeth Briggs

It’s been a year since Elena and Adam were first recruited by Aether Corporation and six months since they destroyed the accelerator, finally putting an end to Project Chronos and their involvement with Aether. Now they’re trying to move on with their lives. Elena’s in college and Adam is working on making genicote, his cure for cancer, safe for the public.

But genicote has become a dangerous fixation for Adam. He’ll do anything to figure it out, and when he goes missing, Elena realizes that he’s done the unthinkable: he went to Aether for help with the cure. To Elena’s horror, she discovers that Aether has created a new accelerator. Adam betrayed her trust and has traveled into the future to find the fix for his cure, but he didn’t come back when he was supposed to. Desperate to find him, Elena decides to risk future shock and time travels once more.

This future is nothing like they’ve seen before. Someone has weaponized Adam’s cure and created a dangerous pandemic, leading to the destruction of civilization. If Elena can’t find Adam and stop this, everyone is at risk. And someone will do anything to keep her from succeeding.

 

The Genesis Flame by Ryan Dalton

The timeline is burning. No one knows why.

Teenage twins Malcolm and Valentine Gilbert have defeated doomsday machines, ice monsters, and time-traveling supervillains. Yet their full potential remains out of reach. The Chrona is elusive, and without her guidance they struggle to grow in their abilities and to choose the course of their lives.

When an enemy invades from the future, he brands the twins as war criminals. Amidst a war between ages, the twins must uncover the real truth about themselves, their accuser, and the secrets that brought him to their town. At all costs, they must unlock their true power before the enemy breaks the timeline completely. If they fail, it could mean the end of Time itself.

 

Valiant by Merrie Destefano

The Valiant was supposed to save us. Instead, it triggered the end of the world.

Earth is in shambles. Everyone, even the poorest among us, invested in the Valiant’s space mining mission in the hopes we’d be saved from ourselves. But the second the ship leaves Earth’s atmosphere, our fate is sealed. The alien invasion begins. They pour into cities around the world through time portals, possessing humans, forcing us to kill one another.

And for whatever reason, my brother is their number one target.

Now the fate of the world lies in the hands of me, a seventeen-year-old girl, but with the help of my best friend, Justin―who’s suddenly starting to feel like more―maybe if we save my brother, we can save us all…

 

The 48 by Donna Hosie

Henry VIII’s Tudor court meets time-traveling teen assassins in a riveting YA novel.

Twins Charlie and Alex Taylor are the newest time travelers recruited to the Forty-Eight, a clandestine military group in charge of manipulating history. The brothers arrive in 1536 feeling confident, but the Tudor court is not all banquets and merriment: it is a deep well of treachery, torture, lust, intrigue, and suspicion. The boys’ mission to prevent Henry VIII from marrying Jane Seymour is further complicated when Alice, a fellow trainee, appears under mysterious and brutal circumstances–and when whispers of an uprising within the Forty-Eight reach their ears. Told in alternating perspectives among Charlie, Alex, and sixteen-year-old Lady Margaret, a ladies’ maid to Queen Anne Boleyn with an agenda of her own, The 48 captures the sights, smells, sounds, and hazards of an unhinged Henry VIII’s court from the viewpoint of one person who lived that history–and two teens who have been sent to turn it upside down.

 

Afterimage by Naomi Hughes

A horrific explosion levels part of the city and Camryn Kingfisher is the sole survivor.

Amidst controversy, conspiracy theories, and threats from government officials, Camryn longs for the truth. But the only person who she can turn to is a transparent boy in a lab coat named Quint. Unsure whether he’s a hallucination or a ghost, Camryn has no choice but to trust him as they become embroiled in a plot that is bigger than either of them realize.

In a race where the fabric of time and space is at stake, they must figure out who caused the explosion before the culprit comes back to finish Camryn―and her city―off for good.

 

The Last Beginning by Lauren James

Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find her long lost relatives.

But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove’s investigation?

For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future, and failure could cost the world everything.

 

Me and Me by Alice Kuipers

It’s Lark’s seventeenth birthday, and although she’s hated to be reminded of the day ever since her mom’s death three years ago, it’s off to a great start. Lark has written a killer song to perform with her band, the weather is stunning and she’s got a date with gorgeous Alec. The two take a canoe out on the lake, and everything is perfect—until Lark hears the screams. Annabelle, a little girl she used to babysit, is drowning in the nearby reeds while Annabelle’s mom tries desperately to reach her. Lark and Alec are closer, and they both dive in. But Alec hits his head on a rock in the water and begins to flail.

Alec and Annabelle are drowning. And Lark can save only one of them.

Lark chooses, and in that moment her world splits into two distinct lives. She must live with the consequences of both choices. As Lark finds herself going down more than one path, she has to decide: Which life is the right one?

 

The Devil’s Thief by Lisa Maxwell

Esta’s parents were murdered. Her life was stolen. And everything she knew about magic was a lie. She thought the Book of Mysteries held the key to freeing the Mageus from the Order’s grasp, but the danger within its pages was greater than she ever imagined.

Now the Book’s furious power lives inside Harte. If he can’t control it, it will rip apart the world to get its revenge, and it will use Esta to do it.

To bind the power, Esta and Harte must track down four elemental stones scattered across the continent. But the world outside the city is like nothing they expected. There are Mageus beyond the Brink not willing to live in the shadows—and the Order isn’t alone in its mission to crush them.

In St. Louis, the extravagant World’s Fair hides the first stone, but an old enemy is out for revenge and a new enemy is emerging. And back in New York, Viola and Jianyu must defeat a traitor in a city on the verge of chaos.

As past and future collide, time is running out to rewrite history—even for a time-traveling thief.

 

Rewind by Carolyn O’Doherty

Sixteen-year-old Alex is a Spinner–she has the ability to rewind time to review past events. Hated and feared because of their ability to find the truth, the small population of Spinners is restricted to Centers–compounds created to house and protect them. Alex’s society uses the Spinners’ skills to solve major crimes, but messing with time comes with consequences: no Spinner lives past the age of twenty. At sixteen, Alex is in her prime–until time sickness strikes early. When she is offered an experimental treatment, Alex sees a future for herself for the first time. But the promising medication offers more than just a cure–it also brings with it dire consequences.

 

The Echo Room by Parker Peevyhouse

Rett wakes on the floor of a cold, dark room. He doesn’t know how he got there, only that he’s locked in. He’s not alone—a girl named Bryn is trapped in the room with him. When she finds a mysterious bloodstain and decides she doesn’t trust Rett, he tries to escape on his own—

Rett wakes on the floor of the same cold, dark room. He doesn’t trust Bryn, but he’ll have to work with her if he ever hopes to escape. They try to break out of the room—

Rett and Bryn hide in a cold, dark room. Safe from what’s outside.

But they’re not alone.

 

When a Ghost Talks, Listen by Tim Tingle

Ten-year-old Isaac, now a ghost, continues with his people as they walk the Choctaw Trail of Tears headed to Indian Territory in what will one day become Oklahoma. There have been surprises aplenty on their trek, but now Isaac and his three Choctaw comrades learn they can time travel–making for an unexpected adventure. The foursome heads back in time to Washington, D.C., to bear witness for Choctaw Chief Pushmataha who has come to the nation’s capital at the invitation of Andrew Jackson.

 

But Not Forever by Jan Von Schleh

Could she be everything you aren’t, but somehow―still be you?

It’s the year 2015 and Sonnet McKay is the daughter of a globe-trotting diplomat, home for the summer from her exotic life. Everything would be perfect if not for her stunning sister, whose bright star has left her in the shadows. In 1895, Emma Sweetwine is trapped in a Victorian mansion, dreaming of wings to fly her far from her mother, who gives her love to her sons, leaving nothing for her daughter. Fate puts them in the same house at the same moment, 120 years apart, and the identical fifteen-year-olds are switched in time. In their new worlds, Sonnet falls in love with a boy, Emma falls in love with a life, and astonishing family secrets are revealed. Torn, both girls want to still go home— but can either one give up what they now have?

But Not Forever is an enchanting story of love and longing, and the heart’s ultimate quest to find where it belongs.

 

Strange Days by Constantine Singer

Alex Mata doesn’t want to worry about rumors of alien incursions – he’d rather just skate and tag and play guitar. But when he comes home to find an alien has murdered his parents, he’s forced to confront a new reality: Aliens are real, his parents are dead, and nobody will believe him if he says what he saw. On the run, Alex finds himself led to the compound of tech guru Jeffrey Sabazios, the only public figure who stands firm in his belief that aliens are coming.

At Sabazios’ invitation, Alex becomes a “Witness”—one of a special group of teens gifted with an ability that could save the Earth: they can glide through time and witness futures. When a Witness sees a future it guarantees that it will happen the way it’s been seen, making their work humanity’s best hope for controlling what happens next and stopping the alien threat. Guided by Sabazios, befriended by his fellow time travelers, and maybe even falling in love, Alex begins to find a new home at the compound — until a rogue glide shows him the dangerous truth about his new situation.

Now in a race against time, Alex must make a terrible choice: save the people he loves or save the world instead.

 

Pemmican  Wars by Katherena Vermette

Echo Desjardins, a 13-year-old Métis girl adjusting to a new home and school, is struggling with loneliness while separated from her mother. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee’s history class turns extraordinary, and Echo’s life will never be the same. During Mr. Bee’s lecture, Echo finds herself transported to another time and place—a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie—and back again to the present. In the following weeks, Echo slips back and forth in time. She visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur-trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican Wars.

Pemmican Wars is the first graphic novel in a new series, A Girl Called Echo, by Governor General Award–winning writer, and author of Highwater Press’ The Seven Teaching Stories, Katherena Vermette.

 

Bonus: Forthcoming in 2019

The Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds

When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. Jack’s curse of almost is finally over.

But this love story is . . . complicated. It is an almost happily ever after. Because Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Beautiful, radiant Kate. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do—and let go—to save the people he loves.

 

Stolen Time by Danielle Rollins

Seattle, 1913 // Dorothy is trapped. Forced into an engagement to a wealthy man just so she and her mother can live comfortably for the rest of their days, she’ll do anything to escape. Including sneaking away from her wedding and bolting into the woods to disappear.

New Seattle, 2077 // Ash is on a mission. Rescue the professor—his mentor who figured out the secret to time travel—so together they can put things right in their devastated city. But searching for one man means endless jumps through time with no guarantee of success.

When Dorothy collides with Ash, she sees it as her chance to start fresh—she’ll stow away in his plane and begin a new life wherever they land. Then she wakes up in a future that’s been ripped apart by earthquakes and floods; where vicious gangs rule the submerged city streets and a small group of intrepid travelers from across time are fighting against the odds to return things to normal. What Dorothy doesn’t know is that she could hold the key to unraveling the past—and her arrival may spell Ash’s ultimate destruction.

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

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Catarina Agatta lives in a future world where every human has a “panel” that controls their genes, giving them the ability to recode their DNA. The programs to alter human DNA have to be coded by master code-writers and hackers – it’s not something that just anyone can do. Catarina is a master though; she takes after her father, Lachlan, a scientist who was kidnapped by the evil organization Cartaxus two years ago. Cartaxus keeps their own programs under copyright, including most importantly those that cure diseases. They’re hoping Lachlan will be able to code a vaccine for the latest disease that’s crippling humanity, one that makes humans go into “the wrath” and kill each other mindlessly, right before they literally explode. Catarina is left to survive on her own, eating those with the disease for immunity, refusing to enter a Cartaxus settlement that protects its residents from the disease because she has unauthorized code in her body, code that saves her life but would be stripped by Cartaxus. But then a young Cartaxus agent named Cole arrives, and he says he’s been sent by Lachlan to help Catarina unlock the key to the vaccine – and everything goes to hell in a handbasket after that (and you thought things were already bad).

There’s a lot going on in this book, and the synopsis above only gets at a portion of it. This is one of those books where it’s best to just strap yourself in and go along for the ride. It’s full of twists and turns, with a whopper of a reveal near the end that took me completely by surprise but in retrospect was carefully planned and executed by Suvada. I always appreciate a well-plotted novel, and this is a great example: readers should pay careful attention to every detail Suvada drops, because it may be important later on. This Mortal Coil also feels more cutting-edge than any of the other futuristic sci-fi novels I’ve read recently. I can’t think of another book for teens that uses the mapping of the human genome and subsequent gene editing (with tools like CRISPR) as a major plot point. It’s fascinating to me, in part because it’s just entering the mainstream conversation, and in part because the possibilities (practical and story-wise) seem endless. Tech like this makes me feel like I’m living in the future; Emily Suvada brought it to life. Whether her vision of what gene editing can actually do is realistic or not remains to be seen, and is a question perhaps best left to scientists. But it does make for a good story.

I liked Catarina as a protagonist. She’s smart and reacts realistically to every obstacle thrown at her (and there are many). There’s a romance that develops between her and Cole, which feels natural and unforced. The twist near the end gives it greater depth while simultaneously adding to its complications. Catarina is also a human teenager, though, despite her extraordinary intelligence. She’s easily led by the bad guys (and just who the bad guys are is not always clear), feels the betrayal of her loved ones keenly, and sometimes acts in a way that is not in her best interest out of fear or stubbornness.

While the book isn’t perfect (it meanders sometimes in the middle, the gene-coding aspects are not always well-explained), it’s a cut above most other recent apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic stories, particularly those featuring a plague. The gene-coding angle is not one that’s been done in this way before, and the twisty plot will keep readers hooked. This is one to seek out.

 

Cybils 2018

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I am absolutely thrilled to be a Cybils judge for the eighth (!!) year running in 2018. This will be my fourth year as a panelist for round 1 of YA speculative fiction, and I have to say, this is probably my favorite category to participate in (when my life allows for it). I love making my way through a huge list of books, reconnecting with the type of story I loved most as a teenager. I always end up finding new favorites I likely wouldn’t have read otherwise, including past finalists Death Sworn by Leah Cypess, An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet, and Song of the Current by Sarah Tolcser.

Nominations opened October 1, and I hope each of you will take just a few minutes to submit some titles. You can nominate one title per category, and each must have been published specifically for the stated age range (in the case of my category, teenagers/young adults) between October 16, 2017 and October 15, 2018. Because I’m a helpful kind of person, I’ve created a list of books that are eligible for YA speculative fiction this year below. These are books I’ve already read that I think would be worth considering or books I’m just excited to read. Be sure to check your title against the list of those already nominated so you don’t duplicate.

 

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Contagion by Erin Bowman

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Sanctuary by Caryn Lix

Black Wings Beating by Alex London

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

Nightingale by Amy Lukavics

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan (This may be more suited to YA Fiction, but I’m not sure!)

Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis

Dry by Neal Shusterman

Beneath the Citadel by Destiny Soria

 

What I’m Reading Now

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Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst

This is a heist novel about humans who can shapeshift into dragons (wyverns), so it’s basically everything I ever wanted in a book. Durst borrows from and builds upon traditional dragon lore by giving her wyvern characters hoards: their goal is to accumulate treasure, and they steal from other wyverns to do so. Stealing isn’t punished; only getting caught is. Sky, determined to prove herself as she approaches adulthood, embarks upon a daring and ambitious heist alongside an interesting crew of sidekicks with their own motivations for helping out.

I’m not yet finished with this one, but it takes an interesting and unexpected turn about halfway through, deepening the dragon lore and expanding the story in scope. Durst’s books are hit or miss for me. I really love some of her work (Vessel), but have found others pretty mediocre. This is shaping up to be one that really resonates with me. It’s a lot of fun and I’m excited to share it with other readers when it publishes in December.

 

Gilded Cage by Vic James

This was originally published on Wattpad and is geared for the adult market, though two of its main characters are teenagers. There’s strong crossover into YA readership here, and it’s got a great hook: in modern England, common people (those without magic) must spend ten years of their lives serving the aristocratic Equals (those with magic). But this is not your everyday servitude that you might think of from Downton Abbey. These ten years are officially referred to as “Slave Days,” and once the ten year term begins, the slaves are the property of the state, no longer considered people. The Hadleys – mom, dad, brother Luke, sister Abi, and youngest sister Daisy – apply for a term at the Kyneston estate in order to complete their years of required service together, but at the last moment, Luke is reassigned to Millmoor, a slave town in Manchester that is widely regarded as the worst place to complete your slave days. From there, the story follows the separated family as Luke learns to live within Millmoor and the other Hadleys get caught up in the machinations of the wealthy Kynestons.

I’m reading this one on audio, and the narrator does a fantastic job with the accents: Manchester for the Hadleys and the stereotypical upper-crust for the Equals. Even though I’m not very far in, I I have a good feel for the world James has created and my heart has already broken once for Luke. I’m curious to see how the premise holds up and where James takes it, since it has so many possibilities.

 

The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones

In the near future, the United States has been nearly overrun by Shreve’s Disease, which is carried by ticks that burrow into the skin. Once bitten by a tick, you have thirty seconds to burn it off with a device called a Stamp. After those thirty seconds, they’ve laid their eggs inside your body, and you have about a 50% chance that they will be carriers of the disease, which is fatal. The country has coped by creating something called the Salt Line, which cuts off the majority of the landmass, leaving it to the ticks, while the rest of the country is divided into strictly-regulated zones that are tick-free. Wealthy daredevils who live in the Atlantic Zone will sometimes pay vast sums of money to go on special excursions past the Salt Line, and Jones’ book follows a group of these people. Each person in the group has their own motivations for taking such a risky journey, which takes a very fast turn into even greater danger soon after they cross the Salt Line. This book is a combination dystopia, survival story, and crime novel, and it mostly melds all three together well.

Ever since I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, I’ve been on the hunt for a great literary sci-fi novel that matches it. While The Salt Line doesn’t quite measure up, it comes close. Jones is a master of the ensemble novel format. She gives multiple characters their own third-person points of view, engendering sympathy on the part of the reader even for those characters who are hard to like or commit detestable acts. She’s interested in the themes of parenthood or the lack thereof (motherhood most strongly, but fatherhood as well), as most of the characters’ motivations involve their children or their desire to not have children, as well as surrogate parent-child bonds. As someone who isn’t particularly interested in having children myself, I liked the focus Jones placed on one character’s decision to not have kids. This character’s reasons go beyond the stereotypical and dig into themes of sacrifice and how a person claims ownership of her life. It’s rare to find a book that treats lack of motherhood as an equally fulfilling avenue for its female characters.

 

 

What I’m Reading Now

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Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow

I read a lot of short pieces online about various political and governmental topics, but I generally stay away from the full-length books. I’m actively trying to change that by seeking out books on interesting topics written by people I already know and trust. Maddow’s central thesis is that over the years, the American military has transformed from a small force engaged in war only when absolutely necessary into a bloated, inefficient machine with a muddled mission and ineffective tactics, a military that is now perpetually at war. That’s no denigration of the soldiers; rather, she takes issue with the power of the executive to send soldiers into war without calling it such, with the increased privatization of military action, with the military’s obsession with nuclear weapons and its myopic focus on counterterrorism, with the CIA’s de facto status as a branch of the military unsupervised in any meaningful way, with the public’s apathy toward the fact that we’re always at war somewhere, and more. She documents just how far we’ve strayed from Thomas Jefferson’s proclamation to “never keep an unnecessary soldier,” from the idea that war is to be avoided at all costs and if the nation must enter into it, it must deeply affect the general populace of the United States – so that it hurts us at home just as much as it hurts the soldiers fighting it. It’s well-argued, clearly-written, and mostly non-partisan. Maddow reads the audiobook version, which is of course the perfect choice.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

For almost a decade of my life, adult fantasy novels made up 90% of my reading diet. It’s been a long time since that was the case; now I read mostly YA science fiction and fantasy, adult romance, and adult mysteries and thrillers. But I haven’t forgotten my longtime love, and I’m hoping to rekindle our romance with this doorstopper of a novel that’s universally beloved by pretty much all my fantasy-loving friends. It’s got a traditional fantasy plotline – an oppressed people fights back against their evil overlords with the help of a magically gifted, inspiring revolutionary – with an interesting magic system and detailed, well-realized world-building. At 541 pages, I’m hoping I can finish it before it needs to be returned to the library.

When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas

This is a weird one (I’m hoping in a good way!). The three Vasquez siblings’ father left their family without an explanation, and soon after, a strange being named Luz joins them. Incorporeal Luz lives inside the kids for a brief time, experimenting with each of their most valued physical features in order to explore the world around it: Hank’s hands, Ana’s eyes, and Milo’s ears. In return, the siblings’ abilities with these particular features, already sharp (Hank plays basketball; Ana makes movies), are heightened. But Luz doesn’t stay long either, and when it leaves, it cripples the very things the kids valued most. Written a certain way, this premise might come across as silly, but Thomas’ writing is dense and dreamlike, layered with emotion, and so far, it’s working.