Alice in Time

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Overview

Fourteen-year-old Alice falls off a merry-go-round and wakes to find that she is seven years old again—and has been given a chance to rewrite her wretched life. As Alice experiences her past through the eyes of her teenage self, she witnesses some disturbing new evidence to explain her parents' divorce. At school, she has some decisions to make: become best friends with smart and sulky Imogen, as she did the first time, or make new friends. And there are romantic choices to be made as well: does she want hunky ...

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Overview

Fourteen-year-old Alice falls off a merry-go-round and wakes to find that she is seven years old again—and has been given a chance to rewrite her wretched life. As Alice experiences her past through the eyes of her teenage self, she witnesses some disturbing new evidence to explain her parents' divorce. At school, she has some decisions to make: become best friends with smart and sulky Imogen, as she did the first time, or make new friends. And there are romantic choices to be made as well: does she want hunky Seth or Luke, a boy she's known since elementary school? When Alice returns to the present, she is shocked to find everything has changed even more than she bargained for.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Debut novelist Bush offers a conventional coming-of-age story with a time-travel twist, first published in the U.K. Fourteen-year-old Alice hates her life: her seven-year-old brother, Rory, is a brat; Alice blames her mother for ruining their family by leaving her father; she's growing apart from her best friend, Imogen; and Alice's classmate Sasha makes her life miserable at school. When Alice is pursued by a cute new student, she ends up setting into motion a trip back in time. Suddenly, Alice is seven years old again and has the opportunity to change her future. At first her goals seem clear: save her family from falling apart and make Sasha's life miserable. But surprises await Alice, among them that her father is not entirely the good guy she believed him to be. Alice's dry humor is engaging, but her ongoing selfishness (she gives Rory a run for his money as far as brattiness is concerned) gets old quickly. There is never much doubt that Alice will emerge from her journey kinder and more confident. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)
School Library Journal
Gr 7–10—At 14, British teen Alice doesn't see how her life could get any worse. She can't converse with her mother without shouting, the resident mean girl has made school a nightmare, and even her relationship with her only friend, Imogen, is strained. Having never forgiven her mother for her parents' divorce or her brother for being born and ruining her life, Alice is convinced that moving in with her father and his new wife would make everything better. After heated arguments with Mum and Imogen—in which both rightly call Alice out for being selfish—she leaves her house in a fury. An unusual spin on the merry-go-round leads to Alice waking in the past. With the opportunity to relive the most significant time in her life as a 14-year-old in a 7-year-old body, she realizes that she can change her future. Discerning readers will quickly recognize that her own attitude played a role in creating her misery, but will keep reading to see if she can come to that conclusion herself as she observes and experiences the same events with older eyes. The first-person point of view prevents the narrative from being overtly didactic, and most of Alice's observations upon returning to her now-altered present are realistic and satisfying. The confidence she gains and the lesson that she can take control of her actions and reactions will resonate with readers.—Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL
VOYA - Hilary Crew
Fourteen-year-old Alice's life has reached an all-time low. She is tired of babysitting her seven-year-old brother, Rory; she and Rory missed her father's wedding; she dreads riding the bus to school because she is tormented by Sasha, a former friend; and she is fighting with her best friend, Imogen, because she, Alice, wishes to be friends with others, including the new 6th former, Seth. Alice may live in the UK, but US teens will find that they are on familiar territory as far as cliques, relational dynamics between teens and parents, and first romantic dates are concerned. Alice admits that she has behaved badly toward her mother and Imogen in order to keep a date with Seth. Unhappy because everything is going wrong, she is spinning on the merry-go-round in the park when she falls, is knocked out, and wakes to find herself in her seven-year-old body, although she remains, otherwise, her fourteen-year-old self. The time-slip device is used to show how Alice could have made different choices from those that she now knows were not for the best—especially her past choices involving friends. She learns the truth about her parents' marriage, no longer blames her mother for the divorce, and decides that she can be a better sister to Rory. Alice changes what is possible before returning, rather fortuitously, to her teenage body ready for a great future. Alice's narrative is engaging, and teens may find Alice's chance to re-live and re-make her past appealing. This is a worthwhile purchase appropriate for all collections. Reviewer: Hilary Crew
School Library Journal
Gr 7–10—At 14, British teen Alice doesn't see how her life could get any worse. She can't converse with her mother without shouting, the resident mean girl has made school a nightmare, and even her relationship with her only friend, Imogen, is strained. Having never forgiven her mother for her parents' divorce or her brother for being born and ruining her life, Alice is convinced that moving in with her father and his new wife would make everything better. After heated arguments with Mum and Imogen—in which both rightly call Alice out for being selfish—she leaves her house in a fury. An unusual spin on the merry-go-round leads to Alice waking in the past. With the opportunity to relive the most significant time in her life as a 14-year-old in a 7-year-old body, she realizes that she can change her future. Discerning readers will quickly recognize that her own attitude played a role in creating her misery, but will keep reading to see if she can come to that conclusion herself as she observes and experiences the same events with older eyes. The first-person point of view prevents the narrative from being overtly didactic, and most of Alice's observations upon returning to her now-altered present are realistic and satisfying. The confidence she gains and the lesson that she can take control of her actions and reactions will resonate with readers.—Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780823423293
  • Publisher: Holiday House, Inc.
  • Publication date: 2/14/2011
  • Pages: 208
  • Age range: 12 - 17 Years
  • Lexile: 830L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.70 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.00 (d)

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