Do you ever get so stressed that all you want is a little kid lit? No, just me?
I asked for book recs for quick and fun reads for children and this one came out on top. It’s a quick and thoughtful book about time travel and friendship. It reminded me a little bit of Edward Eager and E. Nesbitt, but it was not as fun or magical.
The story is interesting and the characters are solid enough, but there is definitely something missing. I think the main problem I had with it was pacing. Everything felt rushed and trimmed down to the bone, and that left very little for a reader to sink their teeth into.
The adventure is short and over too quickly. There is no time for any real relationships to grow and very little character development, either.
I know this was targeted to kids, but it felt like the author didn’t trust her audience to invest in either the people or the story. Maybe it was a word count issue, and if so, that’s a shame. Because the bones were there, I just needed a little more. And I think the kids who pick it up would have gotten more out of it if there had been more to get.
It’s a quick read. It’s fun. But it’s not memorable, because there just isn’t enough there to care about.
4 needs-more-meat-but-at-least-it-has-a-dog stars
