Countdown to Yesterday by Shirley Marr (review)

Reviewed by: Countdown to Yesterday by Shirley Marr Cassidy Russell Marr, Shirley Countdown to Yesterday. Simon, 2024 272p Trade ed. ISBN 9781665948517 17. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781665948531 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 4-6 Mom's announcement that she's finally going to enter his school's cake competition is ruined for cake-loving, eleven-year-old James when she also reveals that she and James' father are getting divorced. As James bounces between his dad's house and his mom's tiny apartment, both of his parents are determined to make new happy memories, but James just wants to return to his favorite memories of when his family was together. When he works up the nerve to tell Yan, an incredible inventor who is his new (and only) pal at school, that he wants to build a time machine and live permanently in one of those happy memories, she immediately sets to work building one. But as the two become closer and James' parents attempt to connect with him in new ways, he has to decide if he's willing to give up the difficult present for what he thinks he remembers about the past. James' thoughtful interrogation of the fallibility of memory puts a refreshing spin on the time travel genre, especially as he starts to notice new things about his parents' deeply imperfect relationship. End Page 369 Marr compellingly explores the various levels of belonging created by collision of cultures (through both James' Chinese-Australian mother and Yan's more traditional Chinese family) and of a child realizing their parents' humanity—most movingly portrayed in James' recognition of his mother's newfound ability to shine outside of an unhappy marriage. Bullying is given a similarly nuanced examination, and there's a hard-earned wisdom in James' mother's reminder that "no one considers themselves a bully when they're the main character in their own story. " While the lack of clarity about whether James and Yan's time machine actually works may frustrate literal-minded kiddos, anyone willing to suspend reality will revel in the chaotic cake-fight of an ending of this sweet story. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois