A Year Without Autumn

Time travel to a disturbing near future forces a preteen to cope for the first time without the help of her best friend. Twelve-year-old Jenni Green and her best friend Autumn are inseparable. Along with their families, they even spend their summer vacations together every year at Riverside Village. There's so much to do there, from hot air balloon rides to adventure parks. Though Jenni naturally prefers museums to rock climbing, Autumn is always roping her into one crazy activity or another.This summer doesn't seem any different, until a ride in an old elevator lands Jenni in the middle of a strange and unsettling time-travel adventure all on her own. For the first time in her friendship with Autumn, Jenni must take the reins and figure out how to change the past in order to protect the ones she loves in the future. Jenni's first-person narration gives readers a ringside seat to her disorientation. Will she be able to save her friendship with Autumn and spare both of their families the heartache of a looming tragedy? Only time will tell. Though the logistics of Jenni's time travel are a bit convoluted and the characters often feel disappointingly flat, preteen readers will likely be swept up in the suspense of Jenni's journeys back and forth in time. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Copyright 2011 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

Every summer 12-year-old Jenni looks forward to her familys vacation at Riverside Villageit means spending the days with her buoyant and optimistic best friend, Autumn, and her family. But this year, a fateful elevator trip somehow transports Jenni one year into the future, and much has changed. It turns out that just hours after Jenni left the previous summer, Autumns younger brother, Mikey, was thrown from a horse and has been in a coma ever since, his family struggling to keep it together. As Jenni gradually pieces together what happened to her (and gets increasingly dire glimpses of the future through subsequent trips in the elevator), she works to return to the present and possibly avert Mikeys accident. Kessler (the Emily Windsnap series) isnt interested in the mechanics of time travel or even why Jennis time slip has occurred (as Jenni reflects, What matters is the fact that it has). Rather, its a vehicle, occasionally heavy-handed but effective, for her storys empowering message: Dont just accept the life youre given.... Question everything. Always attempt the impossible. Ages 9-12. (Oct.)

Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

Gr 5-7--Twelve-year-olds Jenni and Autumn are best friends looking forward to their families' yearly stay at a time-share condominium complex. When Jenni gets into an elevator that she expects will take her up to Autumn's condo, she discovers that it has lifted her into the future instead, a year ahead of the present. As she moves back and forth between both time periods, she learns that a tragic accident has had a terrible impact on both families, and she must figure out a way to change the present to avoid the tragedy. Kessler deals sensitively with divorce and death, offering readers a plot that is grounded in reality despite the time-travel element. Everything comes together in a tidy ending that readers will find satisfactory. Dialogue is a weaker aspect of this novel-it's a bit syrupy and unnatural at times, which reduces the emotional impact of the story.--Corrina Austin, Locke's Public School, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Grades 4-7. The author of Philippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister (2008) again explores the hazards of wishes that come true. Here, when the close families of sensible, routine-loving Jenni and her exuberantly larger-than-life BFF, Autumn, meet for their annual week’s vacation in a time-share colony, Jenni idly thinks it would be cool to know what’s coming—and after a ride in a strange antique elevator suddenly finds herself a year older. More shockingly, so is everyone else, and she witnesses Autumn and her once-tight family coming apart in the wake of a devastating accident the year before. After further rides reveal even more dismal events two and three years later, including the breakup of her own parents, Jenni finds a way to return to her present and by the narrowest of margins avert the catalyzing mishap. A crowd-pleaser for fans of uncomplicated light fantasy, the novel is enriched by simply drawn characters, an intensely suspenseful climax, and an upbeat ending sweetened by both strong affirmations of friendship and a romantic subplot in the supporting cast.

Copyright 2011 Booklist, LLC Used with permission.

Preteen readers will likely be swept up in the suspense of Jenni's journeys back and forth in time.
—Kirkus Reviews

The novel is enriched by simply drawn characters, an intensely suspenseful climax, and an upbeat ending sweetened by both strong affirmations of friendship and a romantic subplot in the supporting cast.
—Booklist Online

Driven by a pre-teen girl's fierce loyalty to her closest friend, this time travel story ponders how close people often are to life-changing circumstances... This novel holds a positive and strengthening message about friendship, life, and love.
—Library Media Connection 

The story line is very intriguing, and readers may find it difficult to put the book down. Kessler tackles the paradoxes of time travel with courage and imagination, while the special friendship between Jenni and Autumn is very moving and emotional.
—KidsReads.com