Contemporary Authors

• Timekeeper ( novel) Sky Pony Press (New York, NY), 2016

1. Timekeeper LCCN 2016021334 Type of material Book Personal name Sim, Tara, author. Main title Timekeeper / Tara Sim. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Sky Pony Press, [2016] Projected pub date 1611 Description pages cm ISBN 9781510706187 (hardcover)

• Tara Sim - http://www.tarasim.com/about/

  Tara Sim is the author of TIMEKEEPER (Sky Pony Press, Fall 2016) and writer of all things magic. She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California.
  When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.
  Tara is represented by Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency.
  She also sometimes blogs for Quirk Books.
  Name pronunciation: “tar-ah” (not “terr-ah”).
  Guest Posts/Resources:
  YA Interrobang – Worldbuilding
  Pub(lishing) Crawl – Inclusive Worldbuilding in Fantasy
  Team Rogue YA – Developing Magic Systems
  Team Rogue YA – Writing Multiple POVs
  Musings of Eternal Dreamers – Planning a Series
  Interviews:
  Team Rogue YA
  Adventures in YA Publishing
  Fantasy Faction
  Books, Inc.

• Team Rogue YA - https://teamrogueya.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/introducing-tara-sim-and-timekeeper/

  INTRODUCING TARA SIM AND TIMEKEEPER!

  August 17, 2015
  Author Photo scaled

  Today we’re super excited to introduce you to one of our newest members, Tara Sim, and her YA Historical Fantasy Timekeeper which is slated to release Fall 2016!

  First and foremost, Timekeeper is a historical fantasy. Tell us a bit about the time period in which the book takes place, and what sort of research you did to bring this moment in history to life!
  Timekeeper takes place during the Victorian era, in 1875. The first book focuses on London, but the second book explores India during this time period. As you can imagine, the research was extensive! I read a book called What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Darwin Knew to gather some interesting details, and other Victorian-based books to immerse myself in the era. I also read a bunch of books about the British Raj, the Indian Mutiny, and took a trip to India earlier this year (which was mostly for family reasons, but it was cool to do some research too!) But I really wanted to make this alternative world my own, so I tweaked a bunch of the conventional Victorian ideals. For instance, women can work as car mechanics or *gasp* wear trousers.
  What was your inspiration for Timekeeper?
  I studied abroad in London in 2010, and while I was there I was kind of overwhelmed by the city. I love it, but it’s chaotic. I went to the Embankment often for school-related reasons, which is right across from Parliament–and Big Ben. I’ve always loved that clock tower for some reason. When I looked at it I felt this weird sense of wonder, and I felt calm. Three years later, I was driving to work and trying to think of an idea for a story. I looked at my Big Ben keychain and wondered: what if clock towers actually controlled time? What would happen if they broke? Would there be mechanics to fix them? And then everything sort of snowballed from there.
  Why did you choose the setting for your book? Did you draw from any real places to create your world?
  I chose London as the focal point mostly because of Big Ben. It’s the most famous clock tower in the world, so it made sense to base a story about clock towers there. Trilogy-wise, I chose India as the setting of book two because it’s important to me culturally (I’m half-Indian on my mother’s side) and because this was a fascinating time period in terms of the British Raj. Adding magical clock towers to that was just icing on the cake.
  Which character in Timekeeper do you identify with most, and why?
  Probably my main character, Danny. He’s an awkward, anxious, stubborn creature, and I totally identify with that.
  What was your favorite part about writing Timekeeper?
  The time magic! I think there’s a universal sense of awe when it comes to thinking about time, so giving it an actual source/way to control it was really cool.
  What was the hardest part about writing Timekeeper?
  Describing the clock towers. I am in no way a clock mechanic, so figuring out how clocks work and their internal components and how a clock tower is shaped on the inside was totally intimidating. I took a little license in that this is an alternate history, so maybe they had a slightly alternate way of building clock towers!
  What’s one thing you want readers to know about Timekeeper?
  This is a book about time, not time travel. My characters do not travel back or forwards in time, but they manipulate it like crazy.
  Describe the type of reader you hope picks up this book when it’s on the shelves.
  It’s hard to pick just one type of reader to perfectly fit Timekeeper, but I hope this book finds its way to people who feel lonely, who may have lost someone dear to them, who have given up hope on something, who feel lost in life, or just want to see more diversity in fantasy stories.
  If you could put together a playlist that represented Timekeeper, what are some of the songs that you would choose?
  These are some of the songs that best represent the trilogy to me:”Shatter Me” – Lindsey Stirling
  “Circles (Acoustic)” – Passenger
  “Who We Are” – Imagine Dragons
  “My Blood” – Ellie Goulding
  “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” – Lorde cover
  Who is your favorite rogue character from a book, TV show, or movie?
  Strider (aka Aragorn) from The Lord of the Rings. Badass and swoon-worthy.
  Tara Sim is a YA author found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not writing about magic, clocks, and boys, she drinks tea, wrangles cats, and sings opera. To find out more about her and her books, check out her website: tarasim.com. Follow her on Twitter: @EachStarAWorld.

• Adventures in YA Publishing - http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2015/07/contest-success-author-tara-sim-and-her.html#.WTxaGWgrKHv

  Wednesday, July 15, 2015
  3Contest Success: Author Tara Sim and her agent, Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary, on the power of persistence and intrigue!

  You may remember that Tara Sim's YA manuscript Timekeeper was a winner in our Pitch Plus Five contest last year.

  Well, this year Tara has some amazing news! Not only did she find a wonderful agent, but TIMEKEEPER is set to be published in Fall 2016!

  To celebrate this amazing success story, we invited both Tara and her agent, the fabulous Laura Crockett of TriadaUS Literary, to share the details of Tara's path to publishing.

  1. Tara, how long have you been writing?

  I've been seriously writing since I was 15, when I wrote my first book. I remember composing poems to my dad when I was six, and writing the odd short story here and there, but it wasn't until I wrote my first book that I realized I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. The last 11 years have been a long exercise in craft and finding my style/voice.

  2. Did you ever have a moment when you thought you were going to give up?
  I don't think I've ever thought of giving up. There were episodes of despair, though. Between graduating high school and my first year of college, I had terrible writer's block and couldn't finish my third novel. I eventually bit the bullet and finished it, and I'm so glad I did, because it re-lit my passion. There have also been times, like when I was querying, where I just wanted to crawl into a hole, but eventually I knew I would climb out of that hole and get back to work. It's perfectly okay to retreat to your hole/blanket fort/underground lair, as long as you get back into the fray afterwards!

  3. How did you decide to enter Pitch Plus Five? What was the contest like?
  I heard about the contest through a friend. Since it sounded interesting and I liked the challenge, I entered TIMEKEEPER (my first YA book) and got in. The contest was a great learning experience. I loved reading all the different excerpts and pitches, seeing what worked and what didn't, what some people liked and what others didn't. It taught me a lot about subjectivity, and how something can be loved or hated depending on the reader. That was humbling.

  As far as my progression with TIMEKEEPER, I watched in surprise as it made it to the top 25, then the top 10, and then came out as one of the two winners. It helped not only with my confidence in the project, but in evolving the pitch and the first few pages, which are integral when querying.

  4. Tell us about your offer(s).

  The offer from my agent, Laura Crockett at TriadaUS Literary Agency, was both expected and unexpected. I queried Laura a few months after Pitch Plus Five, and shortly after I sent her the full manuscript she followed me on Twitter. Sometimes agents will follow you for no apparent reason, but I felt like this meant something. I even had a dream that she offered me representation, but only if I brought her a pot roast (it was a difficult time, mentally and otherwise). Strangely enough, that very day, she called to offer on TIMEKEEPER--no pot roast required.

  5. What's next for you?

  TIMEKEEPER has just been acquired in a three book deal by Sky Pony Press. The first book of the trilogy comes out fall 2016. For more info, check out the Goodreads page.

  1. Laura, what about the pitch and the first pages of a manuscript is most essential to draw you in?

  The pitch needs to be concise. I'm most attracted to queries that read like a book jacket -- in fact, all of my authors had queries like that. A bit about the setting, interesting situation with the main character, the turning point in the plot, and then intrigue! Make me curious.
  The first pages are tough. I prefer to be dropped into it, next to the main character, experiencing what they're facing right that second. Backstories and world-building should happen gradually, no matter the genre. With Tara, her main character was on an assignment to fix a clock tower and he was nervous. Why was he nervous? Why was it so important to fix the tower? Can he really manipulate time? Who's this deformed, silent apprentice? I fell into the manuscript.

  2. What was it about Tara and her writing that made you decide to extend an offer of representation?

  She's intelligent, creative, funny, and such an excellent storyteller. That's what we're about in this business. Tara's manuscript kept me up late into the night, her characters were in my head for days, and I wanted to have that experience exclusively for all of her books. When you know, you know. It's like finding a new book to read, getting sucked in, and now that author is your new favorite author and you will automatically buy his or her work forever and ever, amen.

  ~ posted by Sandra Held
  Share this Post

• Fantasy Faction - http://fantasy-faction.com/2016/tara-sim-interview

  TARA SIM INTERVIEW
  MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2016
  Tara SimToday we are lucky enough to have author Tara Sim here to talk about her upcoming novel Timekeeper (Sky Pony Press, Fall 2016). She can often be found in the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not writing about mischievous boys in clock towers, Tara spends her time drinking tea, wrangling cats, and occasionally singing opera. Despite her bio-luminescent skin, she is half-Indian and eats way too many samosas.

  So, who is Tara Sim, and what’s she likely to be doing on a sunny afternoon in June or a blustery Sunday in March? What makes you tick (pun definitely intended—because clocks…)? Cats or dogs? Pegasus or unicorns? Sword or lightsabre? Describe yourself in three words:

  On a sunny afternoon in June I’m likely inside, reading or writing. On a blustery Sunday in March, I’m…likely doing the same thing (usually with a strong cup of tea).

  What makes me tick: cake, caffeine, candles.

  Cats AND dogs, although I’m slightly more inclined towards cats.

  Pegasus over unicorn.

  Sword over lightsabre.

  Me in three words: tall, cranky, bangs.

  Timekeeper is set in an alternative Victorian London where clock towers literally control time. We have mysterious clock spirits, forbidden love, and bombings—what kind of story can readers expect?

  It’s definitely a story with a lot of components. There’s time magic, of course, as well as a steampunk twist. There’s also mythology and a bit of mystery. I think readers should expect an alternative world shaped by both magic and technology, a story about grief and how it changes you, and a love story that is as challenging as it is healing.

  What about Victorian London clicked with this story as a setting? Is it a setting you’ve particularly fond of, or did the story dictate the setting from the get-go?

  The story dictated the setting for me. While I love London, and studied abroad there when I was in college, I never expected to set a story there. But when I got the idea for Timekeeper, my first thought was of Big Ben, which is one of the most famous clock towers in the world. I knew that it was going to have a steampunk twist to it, which led me to the Victorian era. Therefore: Victorian London.

  There will be more settings in the trilogy as the story continues, but London became the hub of clock mechanic affairs for me.

  Which of the Jungian personality types would the main characters be? Does this differ from your own and does that make it easier or harder (or no different at all!) to write?

  Danny – ISTJ
  Colton – ENFP
  Me – INFP

  Danny, my main character, is an ISTJ (introverted, very determined, dutiful, etc.) and Colton is an ENFP (extroverted, friendly, charming, etc.). I loved writing both of these characters because they’re very different from one another, personality-wise, but at their cores they’re more similar than they realize. In book one, we’re mostly in Danny’s head, which is a very crowded, anxious place, and Colton’s warmth and outgoing nature helps ease the static of that.

  I’m an INFP, which is funny because it seems to be kind of in the middle of these two. I guess that means I understand where both are coming from—I know Danny’s internal thought process as much as I know Colton’s somewhat unconventional approach to anyone and anything.

  What’s the story behind Timekeeper? How did this go from an idea in your head to a finished book? Any notable inspirations or influences? What made this book possible?

  Timekeeper (cover)Like I said earlier, I studied abroad in London a few years ago. I was really taken with Big Ben for some reason. It just seemed like such a magical thing. I bought a Big Ben keychain while I was there, and a couple of years later I was staring at it while trying to decide what to write next. I imagined Big Ben actually controlling time, and wondering what would happen if the tower broke. I wondered who would fix it, and what sort of organization they would come from, and what would happen if a tower broke beyond repair.

  I became obsessed with the idea and spent the entire day jotting down notes, and that night I wrote the very first line, which hasn’t changed in all the numerous drafts I’ve gone through: “Two o’clock was missing.” The rest is—I apologize in advance for this horrible, horrible pun—history.

  Did you always want to be a writer? Was there ever a time you almost threw in the (figurative) pen and paper for good?

  My first dream was to become a world-famous singer. But I knew for sure that I wanted to be a writer when I was fourteen and started a book (mercifully unfinished) and became fascinated with building worlds and characters. I wrote my first completed book when I was fifteen, and that cemented it for me. “Yup,” I thought. “I don’t want to do anything else.”

  It’s been a long road with many ups and downs, but I never entertained the thought of quitting. To me, quitting was simply an impossibility. I would come crawling back to it over and over, no matter how difficult it was to pick up that pen.

  Going back to your love of worldbuilding and crafting characters, does this indicate how you write? Do you build the foundations of a world and its denizens, and then add in the details, eventually discovering the story as you go, or is it more regimented than that? Is there a structure to how you build the worlds/create the characters?

  I find that my process changes which each book/series I write. Usually the seed of a story comes in the form of a character or an image of a new world, and I’ll have to figure out who that character is, or what this world is, and the character’s place within it. After that, I fill in the outline of the story. With Timekeeper, the image was a boy in a clock tower. I thought, “Okay, so who is he, why is he here, and why is this clock tower magical?” The rest sprawled out eventually.

  Were you ever worried that with a gay romance in your stories your books wouldn’t be “a good fit” for publication? What made you keep at it, if so?

  Of Fire and Stars (cover)Yes, this was definitely a fear of mine. Growing up, I never saw books like these on the shelf. I’m sure they were there, but not in a way that was easy to find. I worried that by writing a book with a gay romance, I was condemning the story to the very back of a dusty bookshelf.

  But lately there have been breakthroughs, such as Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not and Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. There’s an upcoming fantasy f/f book, Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst, that I am dying for. I’m so happy to see more genre LGBTQ+ books out there, and more easily accessible than they ever have been (although we still have lots of work to do re: getting these books to the teens that need them/can’t find them).

  There were some bumps in the path to publication, such as a publisher wanting to change the m/m romance to a heterosexual one, but I stuck to my vision and ended up with a great house and a fantastic editor who understood my book more than anyone else did. Now that I get to see this book on the shelf, I’m pinching myself. Publishing is changing, and I hope it continues to do so.

  How did it feel to be asked to change the romance? Was it something you’d been (pessimistically but arguably realistically) expecting, or was it a genuine surprise; the kind of thing you’d heard about being a Thing, but hadn’t really thought about encountering it?

  More of the latter. Overall, the process was surprisingly supportive. It wasn’t until that little bump at the end that I remembered it was a Thing. But it served as a reminder to stick to your vision and your story. Fight for it, if you need to.

  Do you think there are some publishers who are more open about equal representation of non-hetero romances than others, or does it seem like there is a general hesitance to put a same-sex romance in the limelight?

  I can’t speak for publishing as a whole, but from what I’ve experienced/seen, there seems to be a “quota” of diversity in many cases. “We already have an Indian author,” for example, or “we have too many LGBTQ+ books at this time.” Obviously, there should be no quota—diversity should not be a trend. It needs to be the new normal.

  Was the process of finding an agent for Timekeeper met with the same dismissal of the m/m romance, or was this an easier task than the publication stage?

  No dismissal at all. I think most agents are very supportive of diversity, and I’m pretty sure none of them batted an eyelash. My agent, Laura Crockett, treated it exactly how I wanted it to be treated: that it was completely normal, and not a niche or a trend.

  Was there any positive advice you were given throughout the process of trying to agent/publish a book with the gay romance? Did this impact the journey at all?

  Querying is rather a lonely process, so I didn’t have much in terms of advice other than studying query letters and agents. I made sure to tell agents in my query letter that this was a m/m romance without having to shove it in their faces or feel like I was hiding it. That basically stuck with me through the whole process: don’t shout about it, but don’t hide it, either. Just let it exist.

  Is there anything about the whole journey—from first writing Timekeeper, to eagerly awaiting the publication date in November—that you would do differently if you could turn back time and change things?

  I would actually stop myself from writing the very first draft. When I first wrote Timekeeper, it was a completely different story! I wrote it mostly for fun, and wasn’t quite sure what I was doing. I would go back in time and tell then-Tara to hold off and draw up a decent outline first, and that it’ll save her countless rewrites.

  If you could turn back time and read one book for the first time again, which book would it be? Why?

  I'll Give You The Sun (cover)Probably I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. I want to relive reading that book for the first time because I kept gasping and swooning over the sheer gorgeousness of the writing.

  If Danny and Colton had Twitter and Instagram, what would their first posts be? Who would post more?

  Oh, Colton would definitely post more. His first Instagram post would probably be a selfie of him being very excited to begin his rampage, and then a lot of sneaky pictures of Danny. On Twitter he’d probably Tweet a hundred times a day.

  Danny wouldn’t post as much—maybe like once a month—but he does have a bit of an artist in him. I can see him posting abstract, lovely pictures on Instagram. His Twitter would likely be empty except a single Tweet saying “Colton’s making me do this.”

  What would they be studying at school/college/university if they lived and existed in our world? Why?

  I think Danny would do something with engineering; he has a mind for it, being a mechanic and all. But like I said, he enjoys art, so he might take some electives on the side. Colton would probably be one of those students who has no idea what to major in—he’d try a bit of everything until he settled on something super random, like floral arrangement or puppetry or beekeeping.

  If they were both invited to a masquerade costume ball, what would they wear?

  Danny would wear a simple black mask, something practical and not very extravagant. Colton would want to make up for that by wearing something too extravagant, like a bristling peacock mask and maybe even a sweeping ball gown (just to see Danny freak out).

  In our world, what would Danny and Colton’s favourite books be? And if not a book, which TV show or movie?

  Danny’s favorite book would probably be The Iliad, or a collection of Greek myths. He loves the Classics. Colton would love Disney movies and super action-y movies like Mad Max: Fury Road.

  We would like to thank Tara Sim again for speaking with us today. You can read more about her novel, Timekeeper, on her website or you can follow her on Twitter.

• Books Inc - http://www.booksinc.net/blog/nymbc/interview-tara-sim-author-timekeeper

  Interview with Tara Sim, Author of Timekeeper
  Submitted by NYMBC on Thu, 07/28/2016 - 9:39am
  Last month we brought you debut author Stephanie Garber, this month we have another wonderful debut author to introduce you to! Meet Tara Sim, author of Timekeeper. Just like Stephanie, I met Tara a little over a month ago at Stacey Lee's book launch, but we actually knew of each other before that! Tara and I have a very special person in common, her literary agent Laura Crockett, who told me almost a year ago that I would love her new client and that she couldn't wait to tell me more about her and her new book. It was all very hush hush at the time and I wasn't allowed to know who Laura was representing or what she was writing, but I'm so glad they found each other. Now we will all have the chance to know a bit about Tara Sim and her debut YA novel, Timekeeper!

  Timekeeper by Tara Sim Author Tara Sim
  1. Did you have an elevator pitch for Timekeepers, what was it?

  I think my elevator pitch is more of a never-ending-escalator pitch, but it essentially boils down to: In an alternate Victorian era where clock towers literally control time, a young clock mechanic must rescue his father from a town where time has stopped completely—and try not to fall for his new apprentice, who turns out to be a clock spirit.

  2. What was the hardest part of getting published for you?

  All the waiting. I’m an impatient person (although I think it’s safe to say most authors are), and the publishing world tends to move rather slowly. Writing the book, revising, getting an agent, going on submission, getting the book deal, and releasing book one has taken a little over three years. I’ve been deeply conditioned to constantly check my inbox!

  3. Who has been your biggest supporter?

  I want to say my parents, although my mom tends to say things like “what, you’re still writing that thing?” or “we never see you, get away from your computer.” Truly, though, they’ve always been very supportive of my goals and dreams, which has meant the world to me.

  4. What was your inspiration for Timekeepers? Was it the plot or a character that came to you first?

  Actually, the thing that came first to me was an image. I studied abroad in London when I was in college, and I was somewhat obsessed with Big Ben. I even bought a keychain. One day I was driving and wondering what sort of story I should write next when I looked down at the keychain. An image popped into my head of a boy standing in a clock tower—very atmospheric, golden light everywhere, a huge clock face with ticking hands behind him throwing him into shadow. I wondered what would happen if the clock tower could literally control time, and what, or who, would be able to fix it if it broke. It all spiraled out from there.

  5. How many versions did you write?

  *laughs until the end of time*

  I have no actual clue, since the story has been molded and remolded so many times, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the double digits somewhere.

  6. Are any of your characters based off of friends or old acquaintances? You don’t’ have to say who…

  I actually don’t like to base characters off of people I know. Rather, if someone I know has an interesting trait, I like to file those away and give them to a character here or there. Like a certain hand gesture, or a way of smiling, or a type of humor.

  7. How many publishers did you go to before it was picked up?

  The whole submission process is a blur to me now. I couldn’t tell you how many looked at the book, but I was so glad it ended up in my editor’s hands.

  8. Who was your favorite character to write? Did you have one that was hard to pin down, with the voice or their back story?

  As much as I love being in Danny’s moody little head, my favorite character to write was Colton. He was a very new type of character for me in many ways, and although it took a few drafts to get him just right, I always had fun with his personality, abilities, etc. Someone who was hard to pin down is Daphne, one of Danny’s peers/rivals in the book. She’s a complex character, and it took me a very, very long time to fill her out completely and understand her backstory, her motivation, and her goals.

  9. What are some of your favorite books or authors?

  The Lord of the Rings trilogy – J.R.R. Tolkien

  The Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling

  The Song of the Lioness series – Tamora Pierce

  A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy/This Savage Song/anything, really – Victoria Schwab

  The Grisha Trilogy/Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

  10. Favorite/ preferred place to write? Do you listen to music?

  I prefer to write in my bedroom. Super boring, I know. I listen to music all the time, but for Timekeeper specifically I listened to a lot of Lindsey Stirling, Ellie Goulding, and the Hunger Games soundtracks.

  11. Coffee or tea?

  TEA. Although a latte now and then doesn’t hurt!

  12. Did you write in a linear fashion or do you jump around?

  Linear, for sure. Although sometimes a scene will come to me early and start shaping itself in my head, and if I don’t want to lose the clarity of it I’ll go ahead and jot it down to insert later.

  13. If you hosted an author dinner, who would you invite?

  I’d love to host Victoria Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Tamora Pierce, Sarah J. Maas, and Maggie Stiefvater. And of course, my awesome fellow 2016 debuts, especially Emily Skrutskie, Traci Chee, and Jessica Cluess.

  14. Are you a part of any “fandoms”?

  Oh yes! Many. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, obviously. Avatar: the Last Airbender. Pirates of the Caribbean. The Raven Cycle. Just…so, so many…

  15. Did you ever want to give up?

  I’ve wanted to, certainly, but more in the vein of “I wish I could quit you.” As painful and as difficult writing can be, I think the only way you’d get me to stop is if you cut off my hands. And even then I’d just buy one of those voice transcriber programs.

  Tara Sim is the author of Timekeeper (Sky Pony Press, Nov. 1, 2016) and can typically be found wandering the wilds of the Bay Area, California. When she’s not chasing cats or lurking in bookstores, she writes books about magic, clocks, and explosives. Follow her on Twitter at @EachStarAWorld, and check out her website at tarasim.com.

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Print Marked Items
Sim, Tara. Timekeeper
Jewel Davis
Voice of Youth Advocates.
39.5 (Dec. 2016): p79.
COPYRIGHT 2016 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 4P * J * S
Sim, Tara. Timekeeper. Sky Pony, 2016. 424p. $17.99. 978­1­5107­0618­7.
Sim's debut novel is set in an alternate Victorian England where clock towers located in every town keep time running
smoothly. Clock mechanics, able to feel the threads of time, are trained to maintain and repair the towers, for if a clock
slows, the town slows, and if a clock stops, time in the town is stopped. Danny, a troubled young clock mechanic,
copes with not only the loss of his father who has been trapped in a Stopped town for three years, but also with the
recent near­death experience of a bomb going off in a tower he was assigned to repair. Shaken but determined, Danny
is tasked with his first assignment since the explosion, and he discovers and falls in love with the lonely male clock
spirit, assigned to be his assistant, living in the tower. As their relationship deepens, more bombings occur, putting
more towns in jeopardy. Danny must decide what is more important­­a forbidden romance or sacrificing true love to
save others.
Combining elements of steampunk, mythology, and mystery, Sim has created a rich fantasy that explores loss, grief,
love, and LGBT issues. Danny's internal struggles with overcoming his fears and making confident decisions, feeling
helpless over the loss of his father, and feeling secure about who he loves will ring true to adolescent readers. Sim's
additional crafting of complex secondary characters and a captivating plot top off this highly recommended novel.­­
Jewel Davis.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Davis, Jewel. "Sim, Tara. Timekeeper." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2016, p. 79. General OneFile,
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p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA474768013&it=r&asid=3659b4c182fc490e10e2c567e24227c2.
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Timekeeper
Publishers Weekly.
263.38 (Sept. 19, 2016): p71.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Timekeeper
Tara Sim. Sky Pony, $17.99 (420p) ISBN 978­1­5107­0618­7
Debut novelist Sim creates an alternate Victorian England in which every town, regardless of size, has a clock tower
that controls the local flow of time. If a town's clock runs slow, time runs slow as well, and the town goes out of sync
with its surroundings. Mechanics, who can feel the flow of time and keep the clocks running, are vitally important, but
Danny, the youngest mechanic in England at age 17, has been devastated by twin tragedies: his father was trapped,
along with the citizens of Maldon, when its clock stopped, and Danny himself nearly died when another clock tower
exploded for reasons unknown. Working on Colton Tower, which has apparently been sabotaged, Danny meets and
falls for a mysterious apprentice, a boy who, it turns out, isn't human. Sim creates a cast of complex and diverse
characters, as well as a mythology to explain how the clock towers came to exist (though it isn't quite clear how the
flow of time is controlled in locations far from a tower). It's an enjoyable, well­realized tale, first in a planned trilogy.
Ages 14­­up. Agent: Laura Crockett, Triada US Literary. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Timekeeper." Publishers Weekly, 19 Sept. 2016, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464352802&it=r&asid=dde404e98da0d7db2da4e930f47fad2c.
Accessed 10 June 2017.
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Spotlight on first novels
Booklist.
113.4 (Oct. 15, 2016): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Older Readers
The Baby. By Lisa Drakeford. Oct. 2016.256p. Scholastic/Chicken House, 517.99 (97805459402761; e book, 517.99
(9780545942843). Gr. 9­12.
Olivia's seventeenth birthday party is everything she wanted it to be; her best friends Nicola and Ben dancing around
her; her weird younger sister, Alice, quietly confined to her bedroom; her boyfriend, Jonty, looming lovingly (if
somewhat possessively) by her side. But when Olivia discovers Nicola in the bathroom giving birth to a baby she
didn't even know she was having­­Jonty's baby­­the celebration comes to a crashing halt. Over the next few months,
Olivia, Nicola, Jonty, Alice, and Ben adjust to life with Nicola's baby, Eliza. Olivia struggles to forgive her friend,
while Alice attempts to make a new one; Nicola takes to motherhood with relative ease, leaning on Ben for his support
and constant companionship; and Jonty initially resists his responsibilities as a father. While relevant issues like
domestic violence and autism are woven gracefully across the narratives, the resulting conflicts are too neatly wrapped
up. Written in alternating third­person voices, Drakeford's debut transforms the stark and grim realities of teen
pregnancy into much fluffier fare, complete with a surprising, rom­com­worthy eleventh­hour twist.­­Rebecca Kuss
Everyone We've Been. By Sarah Everett. Oct. 2016.400p. Knopf, 517.99 (9780553538441); lib. ed" 520.99
(9780553538458); e­book, 517.99 (9780553538465). Gr. 9­12.
Before: Addison Sullivan is falling in love with Zach. After: Addison is in a bus accident and keeps seeing a
mysterious guy from the crash wherever she goes. Before: Addison's viola music fills the lonely place inside of her,
making her feel whole again. After: her parents' divorce has ruined the family, and home feels underwater. To finally
solve all of her problems, Addison heads to the Overton Clinic for a memory treatment. This delightfully confusing
narrative will have readers thinking they understand it, before it yanks the rug from underneath them. (They'll enjoy
the tumble.) Everett gives readers sweet romance and solid friendships and then sprinkles on a pinch of sci­fi: a
procedure that can erase painful memories. The implications of this procedure will leave readers pondering the way the
way their hearts break and how they remember the ones they lost. Everett's story is an effective look at the kind of love
you dream about and the kind you should never forget. ­­Karen Ginman
Flashfall. By Jenny Moyer. Nov. 2016.352p. Holt, 517.99 (9781627794817). Gr. 9­12.
Orion, 16, has a special ability to locate cirian, a valuable element that prevents radiation sickness­­and in their
postradioactive, flash­curtain world, cirian is essential. Subpars (mine workers) like Orion and her fellow Outpost Five
residents will spend­­and likely lose­­their lives mining it. But if they can gather a total of 400 grams, subpars can
escape to the protected city of Alara, though no one has ever lived long enough to do so. Orion and her mining partner,
Dram, however, are close to achieving this goal when Orion discovers the corrupt politics behind cirian and realizes
revolution is what's needed. Moyer has constructed a cinematic page­turner: there's gore, romance, daring rescues,
political commentary, and a strong message of social justice. Multiple small details of the rituals that sustain subpars in
their grim life lend verisimilitude to the world Moyer has created. Although character development takes a backseat to
the nonstop action, the empowering element of a teen­led rebellion creates its own energy and sweeps the reader along.
­­Debbie Carton
Frostblood. By Elly Blake. Jan. 2017.384p. Little, Brown, 517.99 (9780316273251); e­book, 59.99 (9780316273268).
Gr. 9­12.
Seventeen­year­old Ruby Ottera is orphaned after watching her mother be murdered by the people she had been
protecting Ruby from all along, called frostbloods. Ruby is thereby thrust into a life where friend and foe want to use
her fire­wielding powers as a weapon­­a fireblood in a kingdom ruled by frost. Driven by a prophecy, rebel frostbloods
save Ruby from certain death, hoping that she will help them break the curse on their kingdom. Ruby is continuously
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torn between red­hot anger and a spark of fondness for her instructor, Arcus, a frostblood with a tragic past, as he trains
her to fight for her life and his kingdom. Ruby's thirst for revenge is seemingly thwarted when she's captured again and
forced to fight in an arena where a fireblood has never triumphed, while becoming an object of fascination for the king.
This enchanting and fast­paced debut lights up the page with magic, romance, and action, all of which is expertly
interwoven throughout the text. Readers will be eagerly anticipating the next book in the series. ­­Meghan Oppelt
Girls in the Moon. By Janet McNally. Nov. 2016.352p. HarperTeen, 517.99 (9780062436245). Gr. 9­12.
Meg and Kieran Ferris were young and famous in the heady music scene of the 1990s. But after an "accident"
produced their daughter Luna, and a "mistake" brought a second daughter, Phoebe, Meg abandoned her music career.
Luna and Phoebe grew up far away from the limelight, fiercely protected by their mother. Now 19 years old, Luna has
moved to New York City and started a band. Phoebe decides to visit her sister during the last bit of summer before
senior year. She is curious about the untold story of her parents' fame, resorting to information gleaned from an old
Spin magazine. As Luna seems destined to follow in her mother's talented footsteps, Phoebe finds a soul mate who
shares her love of song lyrics. This is mostly Phoebe's story, with flashbacks from Meg's reluctant stardom. McNally's
first novel shows an appreciation of poetic phrasing, as well as plenty of musical references. Recommend this
introspective novel to readers who enjoy stories about music and musicians.­­Diane Colson
The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett. By Chelsea Sedoti. Jan. 2017.400p. Sourcebooks/Fire, 517.99 (9781492636083).
Gr. 9­12.
When Lizzie Lovett goes missing, Hawthorn becomes obsessed­­how could something bad happen to beautiful,
popular Lizzie, who always seemed immune to pain? Hawthorn, who's always coveted Lizzie's seemingly easy
existence, goes to desperate, nearly crazy lengths to explain her disappearance, and in the process of her investigation,
she befriends Lizzie's 25­year­old boyfriend, Enzo, who indulges her bizarre quest (more than he should) and makes
Hawthorn feel like less of an outsider. But she becomes so caught up in her search that she finds herself even more
alienated, and when the truth finally comes out, Hawthorn is forced to examine her own choices. Sedoti's debut offers
an enlightening look at the dangers of relying on outward appearances to judge someone's character, and Hawthorn's
first­person narrative, filled with obsessive thoughts and, eventually, meaningful reflection, is a lively, engaging
vehicle for the story. A rich cast of secondary characters, including Hawthorn's family and a caravan of hippies
camping in her backyard, adds depth. Fans of character­driven novels will appreciate this.­­Sarah Hunter
Kingdom of Ash and Briars. By Hannah West. 2016.368p. Holiday, $17.95 (97808234365141. Gr. 7­10.
Orphaned and raised as a serving girl, 16­year­old Bristal is stunned to learn that she is one of three elicromancers­­
immortal, magical beings­­in her kingdom. Bristal is quickly found by the other two elicromancers and trained in their
ways. One, Tamarice, is hungry for power and soon betrays them all, cursing the royal family and casting the kingdom
into darkness. Over the course of the next 16 years, it falls to Bristal to stop Tamarice's machinations. She uses her
shape­shifting skills to secretly raise the cursed youngest princess of the kingdom while helping the hidden oldest
princess attend a ball and discover her heritage. At the same time, she disguises herself as a man to join a group of the
king's soldiers and prepares herself for the coming fight. The inclusion of multiple familiar stories­­Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty, Mulan­­gives this plenty of heft, and the scope of Bristal's adventures, the atmospheric magical
elements, and the light touch of romance will enchant fairy­tale fans.­­Maggie Reagan
* Last Seen Leaving. By Caleb Roehrig. Oct. 2016.336p. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99 (9781250085634). Gr. 9­12.
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This truly hair­raising, standout mystery thriller from debut author Roehrig will keep readers guessing until the end.
When sophomore Flynn Doherty comes home to find police vehicles parked outside his house, he finds himself facing
plenty of questions about his missing girlfriend, January. The last time Flynn saw January, she was emotional and
desperate to be intimate. When Flynn refused, the two parted on unsteady terms and January all but accused Flynn of
being gay, a truth he has been avoiding for years. With the police hesitant to trust Flynn, he takes matters into his hands
and launches his own investigation with January's coworker, friendly and sexy Kaz. More than just fully realized,
Roehrig's characters feel real. And if Flynn's circumstances are a bit sensational, his struggles with identity and
relationships certainly aren't. Though this is not a typical problem novel, Roehrig gives equal deference to the mystery
of January's disappearance and Flynn's coming out and subsequent burgeoning romance with Kaz. Deftly weaving fastpaced
mystery with vivid, affecting flashbacks, Roehrig coaxes readers along at just the right pace and pulls the rug out
from under them in the best way possible with a knockout ending.­­Caitlin Kling
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* A List of Cages. By Robin Roe. Jan. 2017.320p. Hyperion, $17.99 (9781484763803). Gr. 9­12.
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Fourteen­year­old Julian is a damaged boy, taciturn and withdrawn, painfully shy and still bereft from the death of his
parents when he was a child. A poor student with illegible handwriting, he is often the subject of teachers' scorn and
classmates' teasing. As a result, he regularly skips classes to hide in a secret room he has found. His home life is even
worse: he is the ward of his uncle by marriage, a cold, distant, dangerous man who often punishes Julian cruelly,
whipping him with a switch and lacerating the skin on his torso. Things begin to gradually change when he encounters
Adam, a teenager who had once been Julian's foster brother before the uncle took custody. Adam, who had ADHD as a
child, is still a restless but exuberant, happy presence, beloved by fellow students and teachers alike. When he
unofficially adopts Julian, he brings light into the boy's hitherto dark existence, though danger still lurks. The two boys
tell their respective, affecting stories in first­person voices that perfectly reflect their characters and rive the story's
compelling action. Roe's debut may lack subdety, but it makes up for it with memorable characters and high drama. A
page­turner with a lot of compassion. ­­Michael Cart
Of Fire and Stars. By Audrey Coulthurst. Nov. 2016.400p. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, $17.99 (9780062433251). Gr.
8­11.
Princess Dennaleia has always been destined to marry the prince of nearby Mynaria. She knows that it will mean
hiding some parts of herself: Denna has a magical Affinity for fire, and in Mynaria, magic is feared and forbidden. But
she doesn't count on being taught to ride the formidable Mynarian warhorses by Princess Amaranthine (aka Mare), the
barbed, very unprincesslike sister of Denna's betrothed. Mare wants nothing to do with Denna, preferring to train
horses instead of princesses, but when a sudden assassination throws the kingdom into chaos and fingers are pointed at
a rebel group of the magically gifted, the two are thrown together as they search for the truth, and their antipathy turns
to friendship and then something more. High­fantasy novels with TGBT love stories at their center are few and far
between, and this is done in a lovely fashion; Mare and Denna's relationship blossoms naturally against a high­stakes
backdrop and a fully realized world. A worthy debut that succeeds as both an adventure and a romance. ­­Maggie
Reagan
Saving Hamlet. By Molly Booth. Nov. 2016.352p. Hyperion, $17.99 (9781484752746). Gr. 8­11.
Sophomore Emma, recently introduced to theater, is excited to learn more as the drama club's assistant stage manager
for a production of Hamlet. Her theater­maven best friend Lulu is gunning for the role of Hamlet­­so what if she's a
girl?­­and Emma has a serious crush on student director Brandon. But then Emma suddenly finds herself running the
whole show, she and Lulu have a massive fight, and Brandon actually starts to seem like a piece of work. Worse, the
show is a disaster: brevity may be the soul of wit, but Brandon's version is five hours long. Then Emma falls through a
trapdoor into seventeenth­century London, behind the scenes of the original Hamlet. As she travels back and forth in
time between the two productions, she learns more than she ever thought possible about theater and being herself.
Emma is an easy­to­root­for heroine whose struggles will resonate with teens, drama geeks or otherwise, and her
forays into Shakespeare's London add insight into gender identity in the theater. A fun, imaginative debut. ­­Maggie
Reagan
Snow Summer. By Kit Peel. Oct. 2016. 200p. Groundwood, $16.95 (9781554983575). Gr. 6­9.
Orphan Wyn currently lives with a kindly pastor and his family in a small English village, but she's acutely aware of
not fitting in. Climate change has created a winter without end, which means that Wyn needs to hide the fact that she is
never cold, as well as try to ignore her untested telekinetic powers and strange memories of things that should be
impossible, like flying. When otherworldly creatures appear, sparking Wyn's hidden memories, she realizes her true
identity and her responsibility to end winter and save the world. Peel blends current realities like climate change with a
mystical natural world, in which nature's forces are strong enough to fight human destruction. Readers' initial
confusion over the various magical creatures should settle fairly quickly, while Peel's richly detailed descriptions of the
landscapes and the creatures that rise from them create a magic of their own. Though clearly British in origin, the
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concerns are global. It may not be subtle, but Peel's debut has the satisfyingly predictable appeal of a fairy tale. ­­
Debbie Carton
Timekeeper. By Tara Sim. Nov. 2016. 368p. Skyhorse/Sky Pony, $17.99 (9781510706187). Gr. 9­12.
Danny, a 17­year­old clock mechanic living in an alternate 1875 London, narrowly escapes death when a clock tower
in which he's working is bombed. It takes some time to regain his nerve, and he is distracted by an impossible
romance, his mechanic father's entrapment behind an impenetrable time­wall, and ongoing attacks on clock towers all
over the English countryside. First­time author Sim has constructed a mild combination mystery, LGBTQ romance,
and supernatural tale of clock spirits and sabotage that explores how far people might go for those they love. Its
strongest elements are the time­related mythology and the supernatural gay romance; the mystery is inconsistently
developed, and its resolution seems rushed. There is a hint­dropped and quickly gone­­that this is the first of more
books to do with young Danny and his friends. An author's note indicates changes to real historical London of 1875
and addresses technology and inventions, the role of women, and homosexuality. Try this with A. J. Hartley's
Steeplejack (2016) for the unusual occupation angle.­­Cindy Welch
Under Rose­Tainted Skies. By Louise Gornall. Jan. 2017.336p. Clarion, $17.99 (9780544736511). Gr. 8­11.
Imagine this: your groceries have been delivered to your home, because you don't go shopping. Inconveniently, they
have been left just outside against the house, where they sit in the sun. If you are Norah, this is a catastrophe, since
venturing out of the house alone is terrifying. Luckily, however, she gets unexpected help from Luke, the new guy next
door. Normally, she wouldn't be welcoming, but Luke is interesting. When her mother ends up in the hospital, leaving
her temporarily in charge of battling her demons on her own, Norah and Luke, who has his own issues, take realistic
baby steps toward each other. Debut author Gornall, who based Norah's illness on her own experiences, allows readers
open access to Norah's tormented mind. Describing anxiety, Norah observes, "It's the brassy bitch at school that I don't
like, but being her BFF makes me popular. ... I don't know how to be safe without it." Pair this with John Corey
Whaley's Highly Illogical Behavior (2016) for a complementary story about a teen boy experiencing agoraphobia.­­
Diane Colson
Middle Readers
The Crystal Ribbon. By Celeste Lim. Jan. 2017. 352p. Scholastic, $17.99 (9780545767033): e­book, $ 17.99
(9780545767057). Gr. 4­7.
Eleven­year­old Li Jing adores her baba, but she doesn't understand why he sacrifices precious crops to the Great
Golden Huli Jing, the village's tutelary fox spirit, or why he doesn't prevent her from being sold to the Guo family as a
tongyang xi (nursemaid­wife) for their three­year­old son. Although Jing attempts to be a dutiful daughter­in­law, the
Guos and their bratty daughters treat her as a servant. One evening, a spider jing asks for help rescuing her egg sac
from Jing's sister­in­law's bedroom. As a token of gratitude, the spider weaves a crystal­like ribbon that can be burned
as a call for help. And Jing desperately needs help after the Guos sell her to a chinglou, or courtesan house. Jing is a
compassionate character who shows spirit in resisting unjust treatment. As often happens with child narrators, she
seems a bit too articulate for her age. This minor criticism aside, this is a delightful debut featuring lovely prose and a
refreshingly unique setting of China during the Song dynasty.­­Michelle Young
The Friendship Experiment. By Erin Teagan. Nov. 2016. 256p. HMH, $16.99 (9780544636224). Gr. 4­7.
Ever since Maddie's scientist grandfather died, she's been carrying on his traditional approach to problem­solving:
there's a standard operating procedure (SOP) for everything. Maddie writes down her step­by­step solutions in her
trusty science notebook, and they're for everything from "How to Survive a Needle" (she and her sister, Brooke, have a
hereditary blood disease that requires plenty of trips to the doctor) to "How to Be Friendly" (Maddie's best friend
switched schools, leaving Maddie alone at lunch). But these days, the SOPs aren't doing their job. Brooke isn't taking
their illness seriously, and Maddie doesn't know how to convince her. Then there's Riley, the new science­obsessed girl
who just moved to town and is trying to be Maddie's friend­­if only she weren't so annoying. Practical Maddie has a lot
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to learn about other people, and her journey will be an eye­opening one for many. Science­minded readers will cheer to
meet their match in Maddie as she conquers her demons and learns what exactly it means to have­­and be­­a friend.­­
Maggie Reagan
* The Infinity Year of Avalon James. By Dana Middleton. Oct. 2016. 224p. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99
(9781250085696). Gr. 4­6.
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Now that they're 10 years old, hot­tempered Avalon and even­keeled Atticus believe that, as longtime best friends
entering their "Infinity Year," each will be granted a special power for a time. Avalon, whose father was incarcerated
last year, is hoping for a skill that will help her deal with Elena, a dagger­tongued bully at school. Fifth grade doesn't
start well, but for every negative (enduring a messy, upsetting Halloween prank), there's a positive (earning a place at
the regional spelling bee), and Avalon can always count on Atticus, who helps maintain a delicate emotional balance.
When she inadvertently hurts him and he withdraws, though, Avalon feels wretched and knows that she can't count on
magic to put things right. Revealing her negative traits as well as more admirable qualities, Avalon's first­person
narrative is forthright and engaging. Easy for readers to forget but always a background factor, her thoughts about her
father and their relationship resurface to the fore from time to time. This offers a number of realistically drawn
characters, both kids and adults, portrayed as complex people who interact and cope with their troubles in individual
ways. A well­knit first novel with an involving, affecting story.­­Carolyn Phelan
Kyle Finds Her Way. By Susie Salem. Oct. 2016. 256p. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $16.99 (9780545852661); ebook,
$16.99 (9780545852685). Gr. 5­8.
Navigating middle school on day one is daunting for any incoming sixth­grader, but Kyle Constantini is off to a
particularly terrible start. She is in a different section than her two best friends; gets lost and is almost late for her first
class; punches a class bully for nearly stepping on her new friend Marcy's hearing aids; is assigned by the principal to
participate in the school's NAVS (Negotiating Actions and Values for Solutions) team; and rides Marcy's bus rather
than her own. Of course, she gets in trouble with her parents for these faux pas, and as new dilemmas crop up, she can't
seem to explain her way out of them­­no matter how honorable or naive her intentions have been. Resolutions are
reached, and with each, Kyle matures. Sixth­grade female angst rings true in this debut novel. Salom has Kyle tell the
story and uses fantastic dialogue to let this coming­of­age tale shine. Middle­grade readers will relate to Kyle's
missteps and the frequently overwhelming environment of middle school.­­J. B. Petty
Like Magic. By Elaine Vickers. Oct. 2016. 272p. Harper, $16.99 (9780062414311). Gr. 3­5.
Right from the start of this endearing debut, readers will feel the heartache and the exhilaration of what it means to be
10. Shy poet Grace is dreading starting fifth grade without her best friend. Outspoken painter Jada, meanwhile,
uprooted from New York City, is trying her best to make a new home in Utah with her dad, while secretly searching for
the mother who abandoned her. And sensitive musician Malia anxiously awaits the arrival of her new sister, worried
that the baby will take her place in her mother's heart. When the girls discover a treasure box at the local library and
anonymously begin to share treasures of their own, they also begin to find comfort and friendship. Told in alternating
chapters, Vickers gives each girl a unique and engaging voice, allowing each character's artistic passions to play a key
role in overcoming her personal struggles. The Salt Lake City setting and gracefully embedded ethnic differences add
freshness to a story with a message that will stand the test of time: friendship is like magic. ­­Rebecca Kuss
Midnight without a Moon. By Linda Williams Jackson. Jan. 2017.320p. HMH, $16.99 (9780544785106). Gr. 5­8.
It's 1955 in Mississippi, and 13­year­old Rose has a dream: to leave the cotton fields, follow her mama to Chicago, go
to an integrated school, and then head to college to become a teacher or doctor­­thereby having the means to take care
of her family. But then her harridan of a grandmother decrees that Rose won't be going back to school, even though
she's only finished seventh grade. So much, it would seem, for her dream. Meanwhile, the larger world intrudes when a
young neighbor is murdered for registering to vote and then a 14­year­old boy visiting from Chicago, named Emmett
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Till, is also murdered. Will the deaths be meaningless or will they presage change, both for Mississippi and for Rose?
Jackson's debut does an excellent job dramatizing the injustice that was epidemic in the pre­civil rights South and
capturing the sounds and sensibilities of that time and place. Her sympathetic characters and their stories will make this
thoughtful book especially good for classroom use. ­­Michael Cart
Rebel Genius. By Michael Dante DiMartino. Oct. 2016.384p. illus. Roaring Brook, $16.99 (9781626723368). Gr. 5­8.
Giacomo is a 12­year­old orphan who lives in the sewers of Renaissance­inspired Virenzia. His prized possession is a
sketchbook, though drawing is risky as the Supreme Creator, or dictator, has outlawed art. When his personal Genius­­
a birdlike creature that enhances artistic abilities­­finds him, he is dangerously marked as an artist. Shortly thereafter, a
trio of other artistic children find him and take him to a safe house where they are allowed to flourish. There they are
taught sacred geometry and how to use their creative energies as weapons. When an evil artist begins hunting for the
three Sacred Tools of the Creator, with the intent of destroying the empire, Giacomo is called upon to lead his new
compatriots on a quest to stop him. This debut novel, by the cocreator of the animated series Avatar: The Last
Airbender, is the first in a planned fantasy series. While some of the combined magic and geometry falls flat, there is
action and adventure galore, including narrow escapes, surprising twists, and stunning turns.­­Jeanne Fredriksen
Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape. By Ron McGee. Oct. 2016.368p. Harper, $16.99 (9780062421647). Gr. 5­8.
Ryan Quinn's life in New York is interrupted when his father is reported missing and his mother is kidnapped. Left
with one message­­his father must deliver Myat Kaw or else his mother dies­­Ryan is left to trust Tasha, an associate of
his parents, and his friends Danny and Kasey to rescue them. Turns out Ryan's parents have been working for an
emergency rescue organization, and they have secretly been training Ryan his whole life. McGee s debut has many
hallmarks of the middle­grade espionage thriller genre­­a fake international location, a young boy who suddenly can do
extraordinary things, the friend who can hack into anything, and so on­­and it is a solid volume for readers looking for
a fast­paced, nonstop adventure of derring­do. Ryan is a likable character, Danny is hilarious, Kasey is more than the
dumb blonde everyone assumes she is, and his bully turns out to be a pretty decent guy with a soft spot. While many
loose ends are neatly tied up, this bound­to­be­popular volume leaves plenty of room for a sequel.­­Lindsey Tomsu
The Secrets of Hexbridge Castle. By Gabrielle Kent. Oct. 2016.336p. Scholastic, $16.99 (9780545869294); e­book,
$16.99 (9780545881807). Gr. 4­7.
Alfie Bloom is more than a little puzzled to learn that he's inherited a castle. For one thing, he's never heard of Orin
Hopcraft, the druid who left him Hexbridge Casde. The biggest surprise, however, is the castle itself, full of hidden
rooms and other wondrous magic. Alfie and his twin cousins have great fun exploring, but danger comes with a twoheaded
dragon terrorizing the village and a pair of horrendous headmistresses at Alfie's new school. Kent's debut has
undeniable shades of that other magical boy who finds himself unexpectedly in a magical castle­­Alfie receives letters
by raven, he's helped by an enigmatic man in a high tower, he's the sole bearer of powerful magic, and so on­­but Kent
carries it off well, neatly interweaving backstory, hints about Hopcraft's tasks for Alfie, comical interludes, and plot
threads about friendship and family that help keep the narrative firmly grounded in reality. This well­paced, engaging
fantasy is tailor­made for Harry Potter fans, who will be pleased to learn there are more adventures in the works for
Alfie. ­­Sarah Hunter
Snakes and Stones. By Lisa Fowler. Nov. 2016. 240p. Skyhorse/Sky Pony, $15.99 (9781510710313). Gr. 3­6.
It's 1921, and Chestnut Hill has been traveling with her father and her younger triplet siblings­­Hazel, Mac, and
Filbert­­since the day he took them away from their mother. Together, the siblings help sell their father's snake oil
elixir, but Chestnut is tired of having to lie to people every day about its powers. While traveling, Chestnut leaves
handmade signs behind showing their next destination, in the hope that her mother will track them down. When she
finally can't take it anymore, Chestnut steals money to buy a ticket home, which leads to a series of troubles that result
in a reunion with her mother. But when she witnesses an argument between her parents, she learns a heartbreaking
truth about them. Fowler includes some period­appropriate instances of racism, including some targeting the Hills'
friend, Abraham, although the Hills are not depicted as racist themselves. Chestnut's first­person narrative, in an oldfashioned,
rural dialect, might be a struggle for some, but the fast pace and intriguing secrets in this debut will keep the
pages turning. ­­Selenia Paz
A Tail of Camelot. By Julie Leung. Illus. by Lindsey Carr. Oct. 2016.304p. Harper, $16.99 (9780062403995). Gr. 3­6.
Like most mice in Camelot, young Calib Christopher dreams of becoming a knight, but when his name is mysteriously
entered into the annual Harvest Tournament (to determine his eligibility), his nerves threaten to get the best of him.
6/10/2017 General OneFile ­ Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1497127310479 9/9
Shortly afterward, an assassination interrupts the competition, and the creatures grow convinced that the forestdwelling
Darklings are to blame. Calib is sure they are wrong and taps into unknown stores of courage to unite the
animals and face the true, and much more dangerous, enemy. Leungs debut is a charming blend of Arthurian legend
and Brian Jacques' Redwall series. A subplot involving Galahad's arrival as a boy in Camelot parallels Calib's
struggles­­and eventual heroics­­while integrating key characters from the legend. Exciting battles join suspenseful
animal alliances, such as Calib's diplomatic excursion to the owls, all while Calib tests the limits of his bravery and
learns what being a knight truly entails. With likable characters and a classic spirit of adventure, this is a satisfying
story of small heroes accomplishing great things.­­Julia Smith
YA RECOMMENDATIONS
* Young adult recommendations for adult, audio, and reference titles reviewed in this issue have been contributed by
the Booklist staff and by reviewers Poornima Apte, Michael Cart, Laura Chanoux, Joan Curbow, Kristine Huntley,
Eloise Kinney, and Mary Ellen Quinn.
* Adult titles recommended for teens are marked with the following symbols: YA, for books of general YA interest;
YA/C, for books with particular curriculum value; YA/S, for books that will appeal most to teens with a special interest
in a specific subject; and YA/M, for books best suited to mature teens.
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Spotlight on first novels." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2016, p. 54+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771357&it=r&asid=6d1a49cf438d2ee50bf7813d173d386c.
Accessed 10 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468771357

Davis, Jewel. "Sim, Tara. Timekeeper." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2016, p. 79. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA474768013&it=r. Accessed 10 June 2017. "Timekeeper." Publishers Weekly, 19 Sept. 2016, p. 71. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464352802&it=r. Accessed 10 June 2017. "Spotlight on first novels." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2016, p. 54+. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771357&it=r. Accessed 10 June 2017.

• Kirkus
  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/tara-sim/timekeeper-sim/
  Word count: 332

  TIMEKEEPER
  by Tara Sim
  Age Range: 14 - 18
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  KIRKUS REVIEW
  “Two o’clock was missing.”

  A lost hour can be catastrophic in an alternate Victorian England where the ancient clock towers actually regulate the temporal flow. At 17, Danny Hart is the youngest clock mechanic on record, with the innate ability to sense the realm of time. Depressed and guilty after his father was trapped in a time-Stopped city and also plagued with panic attacks and nightmares from a near-fatal accident on the job, Danny is desperate to excel at this current assignment—but his work is complicated by a passionate, mutual, and absolutely forbidden attraction to the clock’s handsome tutelary spirit. Meanwhile, the campaign of protests and sabotage against the clock towers is turning deadly….This LGBTQ steampunk romance sports a killer premise and admirably thorough worldbuilding, helpfully annotated in the author’s afterword. The characters—even the bad guys—are sympathetically drawn and commendably diverse in sexuality and gender (the one non–Anglo-Saxon character, a blonde woman with a half-Indian father, demonstrates the slipperiness of ethnic and racial identity). Unfortunately, the execution of the narrative is awkward at best. The prose alternates between stilted lyricism and flat-footed exposition and is marred by clumsy word choices and jarring shifts in perspective. The plot meanders at a frustrating pace, relying on implausible coincidences, only to start hurtling madly near the end to a quite literal deus ex machina climax.

  The numerous mysteries left unsolved point to potential sequels; here’s hoping that their craftsmanship lives up to the concept. (Steampunk. 14-18)

  Pub Date: Nov. 1st, 2016
  ISBN: 978-1-5107-0618-7
  Page count: 368pp
  Publisher: Sky Pony Press
  Review Posted Online: Aug. 17th, 2016
  Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1st, 2016

• Entertainment Weekly
  http://ew.com/article/2016/11/09/timekeeper-tara-sim-ew-review/
  Word count: 246

  Timekeeper by Tara Sim: EW Review
  NIVEA SERRAO@NIVEASERRAO

  POSTED ON NOVEMBER 9, 2016 AT 12:00PM EDT

  WE GAVE IT A
  B+

  Keeping track of time takes on a new meaning in Tara Sim’s Timekeeper.

  Set in Victorian London, Sim’s debut novel, the first in a trilogy, tells the story of an alternate world controlled by ancient clock towers, where even the slightest damage to one can cause people to lose time—or worse, stop it completely.

  In the midst of all this is Danny Hart, a teenaged clock-repairing prodigy who is slowly getting back to work following an accident as well as a recent family tragedy. But Danny finds his life turned upside down when he runs into (and falls in love with) the spirit of one of the clock towers he’s fixing—all while clock towers are being attacked around the country.

  Timekeeper’s premise is original and its world unique—largely thanks to its steampunk influence and more modern sensibilities. Sim easily balances the book’s romance with the larger mystery, allowing both Danny and Colton’s blossoming love to stand on its own, while still tying into a deeper mythology. Though the plot does drag in certain parts—no thanks to Danny’s emotional outbursts—readers will still find themselves rooting not just for his romance with Colton, but also for his quest for answers

• Historical Novel Society
  https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/timekeeper/
  Word count: 314

  Timekeeper
  BY TARA SIM

  Find & buy on
  Seventeen-year-old Danny Hart is a recently graduated clock mechanic in an alternate England where every town’s local clock tower controls the fabric of time. Mechanics like Danny are in a valued and controversial profession maintaining the clocks, because in the world of Timekeeper, time is a near sentient being. It is embodied in Danny’s culture as mythology—gods Chronos and Aetas—when clock spirits reveal themselves in human form.

  Danny is dealing with recent trauma, an explosion at a clock tower on one of his first assignments, and the imprisonment of his father—a senior clock mechanic—in the town of Maldon where time has stopped. Sabotage is suspected as more goes wrong with clocks in London and its surrounding towns. When Enfield’s clock experiences repeated injury—a missing numeral, a crack to the clock face—Danny is sent to make repairs and meets Colton, the beautiful clock spirit of the Enfield tower. His relationship with Colton provides Danny insight on the dangers and rewards of romantic attachment between humans and clocks spirits. His interactions with the Lead Mechanic, his mentor Matthias, and his peers, also bring Danny closer to understanding what went wrong in Maldon.

  This is an enjoyable read featuring a well-constructed world and characters with meaningful relationships and conflicts. As with any fantasy novel, disbelief must be suspended, and in Timekeeper a weird typography is accepted as a reflection of warping and other time disruptions. With the inclusion of steam-powered autos and women in the professional workforce, I did not realize until reading the author’s note that the setting is an alternate Victorian England. This matters little because it has an absorbing story, contains some quite beautiful prose, and seems to carry a deeper message about love and its consequences.

• Wild Hunt
  https://wildhuntmag.com/non-fiction/review-timekeeper-by-tara-sim
  Word count: 656

  REVIEW: TIMEKEEPER BY TARA SIM
  January 10, 2017
  REVIEWED BY ALEXANDRIA GRYDER

  It’s 1875 and clock towers rule an alternate-Victorian London. That is, until they begin falling apart.

  Danny Hart knows all too well what can happen to a town with a damaged clock--his father has been trapped in a Stopped town for the last three years and Danny, a young and prolific clock mechanic, is doing all he can to save him. But Danny’s plans come to a halt when Enfield’s tower, the clock he’s been recently assigned to, shows signs of distress caused by the clock’s spirit--a young, golden-haired boy named Colton.

  Meeting a clock spirit is rare, and falling in love with one has been known to get a mechanic exiled in the past. Danny finds himself in the middle of a dangerous attack against his relationship with Colton and, more importantly, time itself.

  “You can’t force something to occur in the future because you’d like it to, just as you can’t go back and force the past to change. There are many branches of time reaching from your bodies - I can see them attached to one another...When one decision becomes impossible, the thread snaps, leaving you fewer and fewer choices."

  Tara Sim’s novel is a fascinating concept and adventure, and, though the plot struggles to find itself until the last hundred pages, readers will enjoy this nice introduction to the rest of the trilogy.

  Timekeeper’s direction has a habit of falling into the background, sending readers on small goose chases because of the teenage protagonist. I found it difficult to relate to this London; this world has so much potential. Had the atmosphere been explored and developed, readers would find themselves drawn into a fantastical world where the threads of time could be seen and manipulated throughout Danny's arc and not just at the end. Readers might also feel cheated by Danny and Colton's quickly formed relationship and Colton’s inability to realize that by self-harming he, in turn, hurts the town around him.

  However, though Danny’s romance with Colton has a few cracks in its foundation, it redeems itself in the end. Their relationship works only when they grow to realize they must accept the outcome of their story, even if it is not the outcome they may want for each other. Danny becomes the assured, dedicated hero I wished for him to be, and Colton finds that he can gain more by letting go. Though I do enjoy a bit of angst between my characters, I was thrilled to be able to see such a significant change between the two by the last page. Watching them grow into themselves and each other was a lovely experience.

  What I found to be the most interesting aspect of Timekeeper was the starting and stopping of time similar to Martin Amis’s manipulation in Time’s Arrow. The characters find themselves repeating their actions unwillingly during the plot’s climax, and the reader finds themselves rereading the same sentences in a loop with an inability to stop it. I hope this is explored more in depth in the next book. I also appreciated the way the author thoughtfully portrays the young women in her story. Danny’s best friend, Cassie, is a strong force by his side, willing and ready to be Danny’s ear while simultaneously working under the hood of his broken auto.

  It a bit longer than expected to be drawn into Timekeeper, but, by the end, I realized I had been on quite an enjoyable adventure and look forward to what the next installment brings for Danny and Colton and myself.

  Alexandria Gryder is an editor for The Wild Hunt. Follow her on Twitter @AlexandriaJoy92.

• Novel Knight
  http://novelknight.com/2016/11/review-timekeeper-tara-sim/
  Word count: 967

  REVIEW – TIMEKEEPER BY TARA SIM
  POSTED ON NOVEMBER 20, 2016 BY TIA JENKINS IN BOOK REVIEW
  Review – Timekeeper by Tara Sim
  TIMEKEEPER
  by Tara Sim
  Series: Timekeeper #1
  Published on November 8, 2016 by Sky Pony Press
  Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Young Adult
  Pages: 424
  Format: ARC
  Source: Publisher (via NetGalley)
  Rating:
  Book Depository / Amazon / Barnes & Noble
  GOODREADS
  Two o’clock was missing.

  In an alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

  It’s a truth that seventeen-year-old clock mechanic Danny Hart knows all too well; his father has been trapped in a Stopped town east of London for three years. Though Danny is a prodigy who can repair not only clockwork, but the very fabric of time, his fixation with staging a rescue is quickly becoming a concern to his superiors.

  And so they assign him to Enfield, a town where the tower seems to be forever plagued with problems. Danny’s new apprentice both annoys and intrigues him, and though the boy is eager to work, he maintains a secretive distance. Danny soon discovers why: he is the tower’s clock spirit, a mythical being that oversees Enfield’s time. Though the boys are drawn together by their loneliness, Danny knows falling in love with a clock spirit is forbidden, and means risking everything he’s fought to achieve.

  But when a series of bombings at nearby towers threaten to Stop more cities, Danny must race to prevent Enfield from becoming the next target or he’ll not only lose his father, but the boy he loves, forever.

  The stunning first novel in a new trilogy by debut author Tara Sim, Timekeeper is perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Victoria Schwab.
  This book was provided by the Publisher (via NetGalley) for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
  Timekeeper by Tara Sim is the first steampunk novel I have read, and I have to say…I’m pretty impressed. It was an LGBTQ+ fantasy novel with mythology roots woven in. Definitely my kind of book. The fact that it took me so long to finish sucks because some things were read really late at night when I couldn’t sleep. It was the only time I had to read, and it resulted in me feeling very detached from the characters and the story. At least in the beginning. The second half, however, I managed to read all at once and I put more details together and ended up loving it.

  Timekeeper follows our main protagonist, Danny Hart, a mechanic that maintains time. Danny is actually the youngest mechanic in history. This caused a lot of hostility from other mechanics. The novel actually starts out after an accident that Danny was in. This is where we learn a little about how the clocktowers work and what happens when they break. When a clock tower breaks completely, the town then stops. The people who are in it, becoming trapped. We also learn that, in one of the stopped towns, Danny’s father is trapped. This sets the scene for the entire book. We know from the beginning that all Danny wants is to be placed on the Maldon project to build a new clocktower (which hasn’t been done in hundreds of years) in order to try and unstop the town.

  Then there is Enfield. Enfield is the town that Danny is given his first assignment for after his accident. This is where he meets an apprentice who he is instantly attracted to. The relationship he forms with this apprentice…who he later finds out is actually a clock spirit named Colton…is kind of weird. I mean I guess I understand why it’s weird…Colton isn’t exactly human…but it is definitely a very slow burn romance. While their romance is very back burner when regarding the rest of the plot, I felt that it weighed a lot on Danny’s mind and that was a little annoying. He was SO obsessed SO quickly. I don’t know if that was supposed to be a clock spirit thing because of their connection with mechanics…but I’m not sure if I liked it. Especially since it led the bad guy of the story to everything he did. Just because he loved a clock spirit.

  Other than that though, I’m not sure if I really had that many problems with this book. I especially loved the mythology bits. Basically, Chronos (the titan who controls time) created these other gods to control different domains of earth for him. The little snipits we get follow Aetas, the god Chronos created to help him manage time. We learn how humans came to get the power to manipulate time for themselves and we also see the death of Aetas. Tara Sim spins a world that is imaginative and very well written. I absolutely recommend this title and hope that you enjoy it if you do end up reading it ^_^

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  ABOUT TIA JENKINS
  Well, you've reached the end of my post! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you want to drop any comment love, or if you have any questions, don't be afraid to leave them below!

  If you have any suggestions for me as well, I'd love to hear them :) Have a lovely morning/afternoon/evening wherever you may be!

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