Cold Summer

Gr 8 Up—Since he was seven, Kale Jackson has been intermittently yanked into the past. Convulsive and uncontrollable time-hops have taken him around the world, but after a decade of concealing his ability, he has dropped out of school and become alienated from his family. Worse, since his parents' divorce, he's been warping to a World War II battlefield. Enter Harper, Kale's ex-neighbor. The two share halcyon memories: playful dips in the nearby river, summertime adventures in the bucolic forest, and a childhood friendship that was really an inchoate romance. Their renewed and newly steamy relationship gives the traumatized Kale an emotional purchase on the present. It's a connection that may even prove strong enough to keep him from skidding back into World War II. Readers seeking the usual fruits of the time-hopping genre (such as historical commentary or insights into the perspectives of people in the past) will be disappointed. If not for the wintry weather, the narrative bursts of 1945 might just as well have been Waterloo or Antietam. Kale's ability could have been explored more creatively, and its explanation seems desultory. However, those looking for a believable romance will be gratified by well-executed chapters that alternate between Kale's and Harper's perspectives.