I've always loved time travel books, and it's a popular subject for young adult authors. I've included some recent publications that I've enjoyed, but many of my favorites were published decades ago, and are no longer available. I have included a couple that were re-issued in recent years.
A String in the Harp - Nancy Bond
(Newbery Honor Book 1977, re-published in 2006)
When fifteen-year-old Jen Morgan flies to Wales to spend Christmas
with her family, she's not expecting much from the holiday. A year after
her mother's sudden death, her father seems preoccupied by the teaching
job that has brought him and Jen's younger siblings to Wales for the
year. Her brother, Peter, is alternately hostile and sullen,and her
sister, Becky, misses Jen terribly.
Then Peter tells Jen he's
found a strange artifact, a harp key that shows him pictures from the
life of Taliesin, the great bard whose life in sixth-century Wales has
been immortalized in legend. At first Jen doesn't believe him, but when
the key's existence -- and its strange properties -- become known to the
wider world, the Morgans must act together against a threat to the
key...and to their family.
Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly (2010)
BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for
leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken
by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are
destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’
most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi
must accompany him to Paris for winter break.
PARIS: Alexandrine
Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on
the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France
cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape.
Two
girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi
finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is
moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for
Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through
the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time,
and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
Prada and Prejudice - Mandy Hubbard (2009)
To impress the popular girls on a high school trip to London, klutzy
Callie buys real Prada heels. But trying them on, she trips...conks her
head...and wakes up in the year 1815!
There Callie meets Emily,
who takes her in, mistaking her for a long-lost friend. As she spends
time with Emily's family, Callie warms to them - particularly to Emily's
cousin Alex, a hottie and a duke, if a tad arrogant.
But can Callie save Emily from a dire engagement, and win Alex's heart, before her time in the past is up?
Kissing Shakespeare - Pamela Mingle (2012)
Miranda has Shakespeare in her blood: she hopes one day to become a
Shakespearean actor like her famous parents. At least, she does until
her disastrous performance in her school's staging of
The Taming of the Shrew. Humiliated, Miranda skips the opening-night party. All she wants to do is hide.
Fellow
cast member Stephen Langford has other plans for Miranda. When he
steps out of the backstage shadows and asks if she'd like to
meet
Shakespeare, Miranda thinks he's a total nutcase. But before she can
object, Stephen whisks her back to 16th century England—the world
Stephen's really from. He wants Miranda to use her acting talents and
modern-day charms on the young Will Shakespeare. Without her help,
Stephen claims, the world will lost its greatest playwright.
Miranda
isn't convinced she's the girl for the job. Why would Shakespeare care
about her? And just who is this infuriating time traveler, Stephen
Langford? Reluctantly, she agrees to help, knowing that it's her only
chance of getting back to the present and her "real" life. What Miranda
doesn't bargain for is finding true love . . . with no acting required.
Playing Beatie Bow - Ruth Park (orig. pub. date 1984; audiobook released 2012)
The game is called Beatie Bow, and the kids play it for the thrill of
giving themselves a scare. It's Beatie Bow, risen from the dead!
When
Abigail is drawn in, the game quickly changes from a harmless little
scare to an extraordinary adventure, as she is transported to a place
that is strangely familiar....
And in a Sydney she barely recognises, she'll meet the real Beatie Bow and the family that will change her life.
