Release Date: October 4, 2016
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Rated: MG 12+
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website
Back to the Future meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in this original, poignant, race-against-time story about a boy who travels back to 1984 to save his father’s life.
My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later, when he was twelve. On his twelfth birthday, Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father. It directs him to the bunker of their old house, where Al finds a time machine (an ancient computer and a tin bucket). The letter also outlines a mission: travel back to 1984 and prevent the go-kart accident that will eventually take his father’s life. But as Al soon discovers, whizzing back thirty years requires not only imagination and courage, but also lying to your mom, stealing a moped, and setting your school on fire—oh, and keeping your pet hamster safe. With a literary edge and tons of commercial appeal, this incredible debut has it all: heart, humor, vividly imagined characters, and a pitch-perfect voice.
My dad died twice. Once when he was thirty-nine and again four years later, when he was twelve. On his twelfth birthday, Al Chaudhury receives a letter from his dead father. It directs him to the bunker of their old house, where Al finds a time machine (an ancient computer and a tin bucket). The letter also outlines a mission: travel back to 1984 and prevent the go-kart accident that will eventually take his father’s life. But as Al soon discovers, whizzing back thirty years requires not only imagination and courage, but also lying to your mom, stealing a moped, and setting your school on fire—oh, and keeping your pet hamster safe. With a literary edge and tons of commercial appeal, this incredible debut has it all: heart, humor, vividly imagined characters, and a pitch-perfect voice.
I love stories about time travel. I love theories that involve time travel. Stuff I can't understand, but stuff that sounds absolutely fascinating. When I got the chance to be part of the blog tour for Time Traveling With a Hamster, I had two reactions:
1) TIME TRAVEL! YAY!
2) A hamster? What????
So of course I naturally had to pick this one up and see for myself. It was a lot longer than I expected, but I really enjoyed this one!
Yay for diversity! I'm loving the growth of diversity of middle grade fiction, because it's a beautiful thing that children should learn about when they're younger. Anyway, I totally didn't know this one was set in the UK either! I mean, it only kind of hit me when they started talking about Geordie accents. Our main character, Al (short for Albert) is half-Indian, half-Scottish. I loved the infusion of Indian culture into British life–there was something quite familiar about it, and I enjoyed reading (and learning more) about the stories and the ideas that Al's super fantastic grandfather talks about.
I will admit, I was a bit surprised at the ending. I won't give too much away, but it most definitely took a path different to what you would expect or, rather, the "conventional" path. It was an interesting twist for sure, and I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it, but it closed the story well, and I was left pretty satisfied with no loose ends.
Fun, quirky and moving, Time Traveling With a Hamster explores loss with a determined young man, time travel gone wrong, and an adorable hamster to top it all off. I whole-heartedly recommend this one: it's funny, it's heartbreaking, and, most of all, it's wonderful.
If you like this, try...
- The Memory Thief by Bryce Moore ● Goodreads
- The Power of the Dark by Robin Jarvis ● Goodreads
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ROSS WELFORD
Ross Welford was a magazine journalist and television producer in the UK before becoming an author. He lives in London with his young family, a border collie, a hamster and several tropical fish. Time Traveling With A Hamster is his first book. A second book, What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible, will be published in the UK in early 2017.
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Check out the rest of the Blog Tour!
Cracking the Cover – September 26
Mommy Ramblings – September 27
Comfort Books – September 28
Oh! For the Hook of a Book – September 29
I'm Shelf-ish – September 30
Royal Legacy Reviews & More – October 3
Mrs. Yingling Reads – October 4
Parajunkee – October 5
Eclectic Bookworms – October 6
The Children's Book Review – October 7
As They Grow Up – October 11
Quite the Novel Idea – October 12
Confessions of A Readaholic – October 13
Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile – October 14
The Hiding Spot – October 17
Fandom Monthly Magazine – October 18
Feed Your Fiction Addiction – October 19
YA Books Central – October 20
Swoony Boys Podcast – October 21
The Boy Reader – October 24
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Thank you so much to Kathleen at Random House Children's Books for having me on the blog tour and for sending me a copy for review!
I don't read MG but I love your statement about hos the genre is growing. It does have to expand and move with the times. Middle graders now are so different from when I my kid was in MG
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