 |
Reviewed by: Heather Maneiro, High School Librarian Title: No Time Like Now Author: Naz Kutub Publisher: Bloomsbury
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 9-12 Genre/Type of Book: Science Fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: LGBTQ Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: Speculative Fiction for Cybils Summer Reading If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: If you had to choose among your closest friends and family, whose life would you choose to cut short?
|
Review:
After the death of his father, Hazeem seems to have been granted a super power – the power to extend life. Everything else in his life has gone wrong, so this seems to be his one redeeming quality. Then comes the day when Hazeem finds out his super power was actually credit and he is now overdrawn. Hazeem has granted credit to two of his closest friends, his hamster, and his grandma. The decision shouldn’t be that hard, but Time has rules. Hazeem cannot just take a little from each, he must take the entire credit from one – ending the life of a loved one. Hazeem travels with Time through the moments each credit was granted and additional moments of significance with each loved one. Additionally, Hazeem and Time realize that coming to terms and reviewing his time with his father is needed to make this monumental decision.
Mixing and alluding to time travel classics from A Christmas Carol, Groundhog’s Day, and Back to the Future, this new take on time travel is a refreshing entry to the genre. I probably will not be purchasing a copy for my collection as I don't know that it will appeal to enough of my population, but I do have a couple patrons to whom I will be recommending it specifically to.
I did listen to this title on audio and I am thinking that was not the best choice. The description of Time as Sandra Bullock did not mesh with the voice the narrator used when speaking as Time and that incongruity got me nearly every time.
Number of party hats:
Find more resources for No Time Like Now at Teachingbooks.net
For more information about this book, see the Publishers Website