Review by Booklist Review
In a determined exploration of intersectional identities and self-understanding, seventh-grader David grabs the chance to travel back in time--not only in hopes of repairing a rift in a closer-than-ordinary friendship with classmate Antoine, but to learn more about his birth parents. Unfortunately, Juanita, his guide, is a spirit of the dead with annoying habits and unfinished business of her own, and David's repeated efforts to fix things only seems to make them worse. Oshiro plays much of this as comedy, but it's David's growing frustration and confusion that will stand out most sharply for readers--that, and perhaps how lucky he is both in his loving adoptive parents (one Japanese American, the other of Mexican and Brazilian descent), who gladly pitch in to help him investigate his Latinx background and the circumstances of his closed adoption, and in steady Antoine. It's David's belated understanding that real change is based not on past choices but future ones that fuels a memorably heady sense of possibility at the upbeat close. A fresh, strong workout for the well-used Groundhog Day premise.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In California, an 11-year-old given the chance for a redo makes mistakes over--and over--again in a joyful novel with a pick-your-path vibe. For David Bravo, a transracial adoptee of Latinx descent, the first week of middle school is riddled with mistakes and disappointments: he gets food poisoning from hot-lunch spinach, accidentally hurts his closest friend during cross-country, and is bullied about his adoption during a presentation on family heritage. The solution to his do-over desires shows up at his back door: a magical hairless hound, Fea, who communicates telepathically and can send him into the body of his past self. For David, it's the perfect way to fix his relationship with his best friend; for Fea, it's another step toward finishing her job as a "non-corporeal timeline guide." As Fea and David endeavor to repair his timeline, it rapidly becomes apparent that fixing small mistakes is not what destiny has in store. Through turns both lighthearted and deeply moving, Oshiro (The Insiders) identifies how day-to-day choices ("Do I quickly make a decision before desks are occupied? Oh, absolutely not") can have long-term effects in this novel of self-discovery that reminds readers: "The future is unwritten.... That's always up to you." Ages 8--12. Agent: DongWon Song, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--7--After a disastrous start to middle school, a talking dog offers David Bravo the chance to go back in time to fix the moment where it all went wrong--if only David could pinpoint where that moment was. Was it the school assignment about his culture and where he comes from? Or an unfortunate food poisoning incident that ruins his best friend's chance at making varsity cross-country? David keeps reliving certain moments up and down his time line, but instead of fixing things, he just keeps making them worse. Along the way, David must confront his feelings about his identity as a transracial adoptee (his mom is Japanese American and his dad is Mexican-Brazilian-American, his biological parents were Latinx, but the adoption was closed) and the true nature of his feelings for his best friend Antoine. Through his discussions with Fea, his "non-corporeal time line guide" (who, in addition to appearing as a dog, also shows up as a mosquito, giraffe, and several other animals to great comedic effect) and her backstory, he learns that sometimes it's not past decisions, but future ones that matter most. VERDICT A funny and unexpected twist on the time loop novel with moving and memorable results.--Jennifer Rothschild
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
David Bravo is having the worst day ever when a time-traveling dog shows up and offers him a chance to do it all over. Tuesday, Sept. 12, truly takes the cake as the most awful day of 11-year-old David's entire life. It starts with him anxiously fumbling through his first middle school presentation about his heritage: He has a Brazilian and Mexican American father and a Japanese American mother from Hawaii, and he has difficulty explaining that he is adopted. This is followed by an embarrassing food-poisoning incident that ends with David's causing an accident that hurts his best friend Antoine's ankle during cross-country practice. His wish to redo everything is granted by the arrival of Fea, a talking, shape-shifting dog who says her new mission is to help David repair his timestream. His first thought is to fix things for Antoine, worried their friendship may be on the line, but when that doesn't help, David and Fea end up going back and forth in time trying to make things right. This funny, brave, charming novel is packed full of delights. The plot goes to utterly unexpected and beautiful places in a journey about heritage, culture, choice, and, above all, love and connection. David learns to navigate the many aspects of his identity--his anxiety, his budding romantic feelings for Antoine, and his background as a Latinx by birth--and brings the entire well-developed, diverse cast of characters together while doing so. A joyful, surprising, time-traveling delight. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
