June 28, 2021
A plane trip home from New York to St. Louis upends a rising senior’s existence when the aircraft, taking off in 1995, lands 25 years later, in (a Covid-free) 2020. The world has altered dramatically when aspiring journalist Jenny Waters, 17 and white, deplanes alongside her fellow passengers; though they’re unchanged and unaged, new styles have emerged, technology has advanced, loved ones have died, and partners have moved on. For Jenny, her brother and closest friends are all now middle-aged and raising families of their own. As the FBI investigates, conspiracies fly, and Jenny works to salvage her future, she struggles to find her place in a world that has long believed her dead and now labels her a hoax. She must also navigate a growing attraction to the white son of her now-grown best friend and onetime boyfriend. Mason adeptly depicts the shock Jenny experiences in jumping forward over two decades, depicting notable changes (e.g., in gender norms) to explore differences in teens’ lives between the 1990s and today. With its intriguing premise and approachable first-person narrative, this page-turner encourages readers to appreciate the now. Ages 12–up. Agent: Elizabeth Bewley, Sterling Lord Literistic.
July 1, 2021
A 17-year-old girl boards a flight back home and lands 25 years in the future. It's 1995, and all Jenny wants is to go back to St. Louis after visiting her grandparents in New York to try to convince her parents she should study journalism at Columbia University; hang out with best friend Angie; and finally have her first kiss with her boyfriend, Steve. But her plane somehow lands decades later, in a future in which Flight 237's disappearance has been a mystery and everyone has believed them dead. As Jenny starts her senior year of high school, she and the other passengers must grapple with their new circumstances--family and friends who have died, gotten old, or moved on to new ways of interacting with the world--as well as face unthinkable challenges, including conspiracy theorists trying to prove it's all a hoax and the FBI watching their every move. This Twilight Zone-esque novel forgoes delving into its intriguing premise in lieu of exploring what happens after time travel with a storyline that focuses on Jenny's meandering struggle to cope with heartbreaking losses, adjustment to mind-blowing technology, and growing understanding of how journalism works in the new century. Most of the latter part of the novel centers on a rushed romance and pontificating about the ins and outs of social media. All the main characters read as White. A middling execution of an intriguing premise. (Science fiction. 14-18)
COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 1, 2021
Gr 8 Up-It's August 2, 1995, and Jenny Waters is a normal teenage girl, boarding a flight home after visiting her grandparents in New York City. She spends the flight plotting how to convince her parents to let her apply to Columbia University (her dream journalism school) and fantasizing about having her first kiss with her new boyfriend Steve. But when her plane lands, it's not 1995. Somewhere on the approach to St. Louis, her plane jumped ahead in time 25 years. The book focuses almost entirely on Jenny's adjustment to the shock of technological advancements and the people in her life being so much older. There are a few moments where Mason misses the mark, notably when Jenny (who is white) blurts out her surprise that her brother's wife is Black, something that wouldn't even be unusual in 1995. Additionally, the only other person of color is the high-achieving Asian bully who is co-editor-in-chief of the school paper. The novel, however narrow in its scope, does succeed at examining the way rapid advancements in technology have completely changed our way of life-something adult readers might find more nostalgic and compelling than teens. VERDICT An additional purchase.-Katie Patterson, Aloha Community Lib., OR
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.