Buzbee, Lewis. Bridge of Time.

Buzbee, Lewis.    Bridge of Time.   Macmillan/ Feiwel & Friends   290p  $17.99 978-0-312-38257-5      elm/ms            E-BN      Science Fiction  

This is a historical and science fiction novel in which two middle-schoolers go back in time to the era when Mark Twain lived in San Francisco.  Joan Lee and Lee Jones have been classmates since Pre-K. However, they are going to be separated next year in high school because both sets of parents are getting divorced. Therefore this last middle-school field trip is going to be a downer for them. It eventually gets worse when the trip destination is changed to Battery Park because of a mix-up in the reservations.

Joan and Lee slip off to the lighthouse by themselves to nurse their wounds.  While they are there they fall asleep, only to be awakened by rifles firing and a strangely dressed man named Mark Twain.  He becomes their protector and guides them through his San Francisco of 1864.  They see a city without the Golden Gate Bridge and huts on the sites where their parents' houses would be in 2012.  They get to understand and live in a time where not even the simplest 21st-century amenities exist.

They are unstuck in time.  Mark Twain also helps them to time travel between various slices of time so that they can get back to 2012. Their experiences help them to realize that they are not the only time travelers.

The book is a great read for young readers, and it shows them that most problems have a way of working themselves out.  It also allows readers to see what San Francisco might have been like to the well-known author Mark Twain.

Time travel, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Authors-Fiction, San Francisco-Fiction                                      -- Linda McNeil