Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Time Fetch

Tags

contemporary, hard topics, MG, poetry, realism

Author: Amy Herrick | Website
Release Date: August 13th, 2013|
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Genre: Time Travel, Fantasy, Folklore | Pages: 320

I will be honest. I have had this story sitting in my NetGalley queue for months, but I waited until the last minute to start reading.
And now, I am kicking myself for it.
I feel in like with this book when I saw the cover and read the synopsis.
I feel head over heels into the story after finishing the first few pages.
You guys. Seriously. Wonderful. Fabulous. Marvelous!

I was provided a copy of this book from Algonquin via Netgalley. I was not compensated in any way for my review (cross my heart) nor did I promise a good rating. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Summary

What happens when time slowly disappears? When there are thieves, foraging our time as if it’s not needed?
When Edward picks up a rock for science class, he doesn’t realize he’s accidentally picked up a living Time Fetch, sending out foragers from another world to steal time in his.
Suddenly, end of school day bells are ringing just as class started, buses are too far behind schedule for new passengers, and the world is slowly fading as time and space are altered.
To stop time from disappearing, Edward has to rely on three unlikely friends to help him because they have all touched the Fetch–and now they are drawn to a dark adventure that only they can conquer.

5 Reasons Why This Book is Marvelous!

Any book that involves folklore, or faerie lore, or hints to English lore is usually a must read for me. I didn’t discover the folkloric elements right away, but by the time I did I was more than sold. Herrick’s novel is creative, and curious, and original. But it’s roots are deep. She pulls from lore that’s beyond contemporary fantasy, and I absolutely love how The Time Fetch feels simultaneously modern and original, yet classic and far away. Every so often I mention the mash-up genre and how I am a fan of today’s genre’s being mashed together for new stories–and I am not disappointed with Herrick’s mashing. She takes fantasy elements like other worlds and magical beings, adds in sci-fi elements like time travel or the messing of time, and roots everything in folklore. Her combination creates a magical story that will leave readers thrilled with adventure.
Beyond her genre mash-up, Herrick plays with what I feel is an original concept. I read an essay by her detailing how she came up with the story, and it gives me hope that Stories aren’t lost. The concept of time being taken away from us by foragers looking to place it elsewhere–I mean, how does one come up with this stuff? Through her essay, I discovered that imagination in the ordinary is where Stories are born. (Big S story by the way is my way of talking about a story. Something that grabs me, speaks to my inner, imaginative, fantastical being, and doesn’t let go of me.)
Herrick also shifts her POV through four different characters which is something I love in a book. Sometimes, multiple POV’s make it harder to develop and fully flesh out a character. But on a MG level, I love being able to read and see a story from multiple views. It’s probably the teacher-librarian in me, but having multiple characters in a book tell the story gives readers more of a opportunity to connect with a character. And between Edward, Feenix, Brigit, and Danton, I know readers are going to be able to connect. Each character is so different from one another, and each faces their own kinds of struggles. Multiple POV’s in this story may have opened up a little less character development than most single-person POV stories, but it wasn’t something that hindered my reading. I connected with a character–and as a reader, and teacher, that is what is important to me.
Time Travel. You probably understand my love for all that wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff by now (though I really haven’t even begun to explain my Whovian side) so of course when I saw this was a book dealing with the movement and shifting of time, of course I was interested! And as I mentioned in #2, it’s such a different take on time travel. I really encourage you to simply read the story, fall into it’s world, and let time sweep you away.
If you are a Harry Potter fan–then this is a must read. Not because there’s a Voldemort, or magical spells, or Quiddich involved, but because Herrick’s writing will take you back to your first readings of HP. Or at least it did for me. Her style, her words, her writing swept me up from the very first page. Such as, The Fetch itself was not made of anything you could hold in your hand, but was tiny and bright as a single ash blown out of a bonfire. It irritated and offended the darkness and the darkness began to coat it in a smooth pearly casing the way an oyster does when a grain of sand gets into its shell. This hardly solved the problem, for as the thing grew bigger it began to hum excitedly. In annoyance, the night spat it out. (Quote from ARC copy, may be different in final publication.)
Perhaps it’s the writer in me. Perhaps it’s the deep book lover. Perhaps it’s just that I appreciate a beautifully written story. But as I read the prologue to the story, I almost felt like weeping at the beautifully crafted words. It immediately took me back to my eleven year old self, reading Harry Potter and falling in love with stories all over again. The Time Fetch is simply a story that will steal your heart as you sit and read while time gladly slips away from you.