Time Sight by Lynne Jonell

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Time Travel with a twist, Time Sight is an interesting romp back through history using the Scottish gift of second sight.   In this review, I will tell you about a curious book by Lynne Jonell called Time Sight.   Mind, you don’t need to scared to read a time travel book!  🙂  Yes, scared is the word prompt for today’s Write 31 day challenge. 

What I am Reviewing

Raincoast BooksTime Sightn.
Lynne Jonell.
Christy Ottaviano Books.
Henry Holt & Company Books.
416 pages, 9-12 years, trade paperback
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

Middle school, history, medieval, time travel, fiction, Europe, Scotland, mystery, upper elementary,

Will’s mother is in danger overseas, and his father must find her, so Will and his little brother are packed off to relatives in Scotland. Will feels useless. He can’t save his mother. He can’t help his father. And when he tries to amuse his brother on the plane ride, he can’t even locate the images in Jamie’s book – the hidden pictures that everyone else can see. Once at the family’s ancestral castle, though, Will tries again. And as he delicately adjusts his focus, suddenly his eyes tune in to a different visual frequency – the past.
Looking back five hundred years is interesting . . . at first. But when Jamie impulsively leaps through the opening in time, Will and his cousin Nan must follow, into a past so dangerous that Will isn’t sure how he will get everyone safely home.

The Details about Time Sight

You know those books where there is a picture hidden inside a picture?  Where to find the second picture you need to look into and yet beyond the existing picture?  Take that idea, add in the Scottish belief in second sight, and voila.. a story is born. 

You’ll find maps and other interesting line drawings.  They bring great definition to the story. Some were full page, others just partial, but they all fit the story perfectly. I really liked these drawings and found them so well done. Can’t you just see the fear in the lad running from the cook?  🙂

The characters are believable.  Real kids struggling to understand what is happening.  Real kids wanting to be helpful, making some mistakes, but managing to find their way through.   

Thoughts/Recommendations

Initially I was not particularly impressed with this middle school read.  It took until I was about 1/3 the way through before I was hooked. Suddenly the story took an interesting twist.  Could Will control his abilities?  Would he be able to save the day?  What about Nan…. could she help at all?

All these questions were answered as I quickly finished this book.  Would I recommend it?  For sure!  Mystery combined with time travel and a willingness to think outside the box… makes for a good read for most anyone. 

If you were doing a study on Scotland and learning about the belief in second sight, this book might make for a fun interpretation of that ability. 

Don’t be scared by unusual gifts.  Use them for good like Nan and Will did.