Time Riders

Gr 8 Up—In this rollicking adventure, three teens are plucked from obscurity just before their deaths and offered the chance to join the secretive TimeRiders organization, which was formed to stop rogue time travelers from destroying the world. Liam O'Connor should have died on the Titanic in 1912, while Maddy Carter was supposed to meet her demise on a plane in 2010, and Sal Vikram should have perished in a fire 16 years later. By reliving the catastrophic events in New York City on 9/11/2001, the trio monitors history for any large or small deviations by using pattern recognition, computer science, and espionage skills. In this first of a planned nine-book series, the new recruits and Bob, their half-human, half-robot computer-support unit, are tasked with preventing futuristic physicist Paul Kramer from altering the past so Nazi Germany wins World War II. While Liam and Bob travel to wartime Germany to thwart Kramer's plans, Maddy and Sal remain in New York City, forced to witness Manhattan's destruction. Scarrow does an exceptional job of tying up the loose ends and explaining time travel without confusing his readers, who will applaud the nonstop action (accompanied by limited violence and minor foul language).—Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD