"Life-changing friendship, handling change, the illusory nature of memories, Major Tom influenced time travel, and making cakes — this Middle Grade novel packs varied, powerful punch!"
Driven by an engaging first-person voice, Shirley Marr’s Countdown to Yesterday explores big themes with huge heart and empathy as James struggles to live between two homes in the wake of his parents’ separation. This comes in addition to dealing with the fact that he feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere: “How will I fit in at a Chinese school when I’m only half Chinese? I don’t even fit in at school.”
Feeling terribly lonely and desperate to hold onto happy memories, James spends his lunch hours with Mrs Tagliatelle, the kindly school administrator. Then everything changes when he meets Yan. A fellow outsider, Yan tells James that “the library saved my life”, and he realises that “she’s looking for a friend to share a secret back. Because she’s lonely, like me”. Also, importantly, “Yan makes me see things through different eyes.”
When Yan reveals her time travel ambitions and abilities, James is determined to journey back to better times, as conjured from his memories. On discovering that memories aren’t the same as what actually happened in the past, he learns to live in the present, with the kind of friend who can get you through anything.
At once charmingly quirky and emotionally authentic, Countdown to Yesterday is, above all, a lovely ode to family love, friendship, and finding your way through unsettling change.
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A stunning new story about family love, friendship and hope.
James is stuck in the present and that's the last place he wants to be. His parents have suddenly separated, and he has to get used to living two completely different lives. Now, he has two homes to stay in, two bedrooms to divide his things between, and two different routes to take to school.
Unfortunately, nothing is adding up to the one great life James used to have and he wishes he could go back to the past, to his Top Six good memories with Mum and Dad. Then during Science Week, James meets the enigmatic Yan, a girl who looks at the world with x-ray eyes, and he discovers that travelling back in time might not be impossible after all. But are his best memories as perfect as he remembers?
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Countdown to Yesterday and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Countdown to Yesterday features in the following genres: Fantasy / Magical, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, PSHE: Divorce, PSHE: Family Issues, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Science, Children’s / Teenage: General interest, Stories about Family and Friends, Featured Books for 9+ readers
Countdown to Yesterday is available in Paperback
Countdown to Yesterday was written by Shirley Marr and published by Usborne Publishing Ltd
Countdown to Yesterday has 282 pages
£7.19
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