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Library | Shelf Number | Material Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Kwamashu Library | Y E BUSH | English Fiction | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Life is at a crisis point for 14-year-old Alice. Her mum is ruining her life, her dad's getting remarried and she has to wear a hideous bridesmaid's dress, she can't stand her little brother Rory, and Sasha, the most popular girl at school, hates her guts. Then something very odd happens: Alice falls off a roundabout and finds that she is seven years old again. Reliving the past with her 14-year-old consciousness, she gains a disconcerting new perspective on her family and friendships, and she is forced to confront the truth of her parents' separation and question her former loyalties. Returning to her teenage self, Alice discovers that her experience has brought about some extraordinary changes and that life will never be the same again. AUTHOR: Penelope Bush was born and brought up in Nottingham, but dreamed of living in the country. She trained and worked as a tapestry weaver but always knew that one day she would write. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Chichester University. Penny now lives in West Sussex with her husband and son and elderly cat. She hides away in an old caravan to do her writing where the only distraction is the occasional pheasant wandering past. 'Alice in Time' is her first book. SELLING POINTS: * A deceptively easy to read, make you stop and think story from a vibrant new talent * Brilliantly observed portrait of a teenage girl's world, funny but incisive * Our teen focus group found the book compelling and thought provoking
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Alice Watkins is living seemingly every teenager's reality: her life is unfair and nobody cares. After she falls off of a merry-go-round and wakes up in her seven-year-old body, with her 14-year-old consciousness, she gets a tremendous chance at a do-over. Eventually, she returns to her teenage self having discovered some hard truths about her adored father, her combative relationship with her mother, and the motives of her restrictive best friend, as well as the realization that life will only treat her as unfairly as she lets it. Alice is so believably drawn, warts and all, that readers might find themselves still siding with her even when the narrator is clearly indicating that Alice's own behavior is a contributing factor to her problems. While the book's last half is not as convincing or compelling as its strong beginning, it still offers a satisfactory resolution for a girl whose second chance at life is more than she could have hoped for.--Dean, Kara Copyright 2010 Booklist