Lisa Graff

It's 2018 in Gap Bend, Pennsylvania, and McKinley is preparing her costume for the annual Time Hop: this year, they're celebrating 1993. But then McKinley's system-obsessed father, William, says she can't go to the fashion show because she has to stay home with Grandma Bev, when McKinley knows she can handle it all just fine - she McKinley and Grandma Bev go to the Time Hop. But McKinley's dad shows up and there's a big scene; McKinley runs to the bathroom, and emerges...in 1993. When realization dawns, she searches for her best friend Meg's mom Jackie, who told her she can come to her for help any time.

Over the course of a week in 1993, McKinley gets to know the 12-year-old versions of Jackie, Jackie's future husband Ron, and "Billy" (William), all while trying to avoid cranky Mr. Jones - who, Jackie discovers, traveled back in time himself. In fact, Jackie's research turns up several potential time travelers in their town. McKinley wrestles with the idea of change: Will her actions in the past change the future (her present)? Can she change other people, or herself? McKinley is especially worried about Meg: they fought right before McKinley time traveled to 1993, and McKinley is scared that her actions in 1993 will somehow erase Meg from 2018. When McKinley does return from 1993's 1930s-themed Time Hop, she and adult Jackie debrief on the way to Meg's FACTS competition.

A perfectly executed middle grade time travel book. Each chapter title references a 1990s song (A Playlist for 1993).

Quotes

C.R.A.B.S.: Count your blessings, Right your wrongs, Assess your neighbors, Better your world, Shake up your routine (8)

Quotes

But there was something very different about knowing a thing and experiencing it. (194)… (meer)

Many characters' stories are tangled up into this hairy knot of a novel. Among the kids, there's Cady, an orphan and a Talented baker of cakes; Zane, a troublemaker with a Talent for spitting; Marigold, a responsible girl trying to find her Talent; and little Will, who is always getting lost. The cast of adults includes the grumpy, villainous Owner of the Lost Luggage Emporium; the sweet matchmaker Jennifer Mallory; an old lady known only as "V;" the mysterious Toby; the even more mysterious man in the gray suit; and Marigold, Zane and Will's mother Mrs. Asher. Phew! I said there were A LOT of characters.

A Tangle of Knots is about a world mostly similar to the real one, except people are either Talented or Fair. The Fair are basically normal people (like Muggles), the Talented possess one special ability (sometimes normal stuff like knitting, sometimes magical stuff like floating).

This book works like a bunch of little mysteries that can only be solved when the characters connections are untangled. What is the Owner looking for? What's so special about Mrs. Asher's hairpin? Will Marigold find her Talent, or is she just Fair? Can Miss Mallory match Cady with her perfect adopted family? Is having a Talent a gift or a curse?

This is definitely a jigsaw puzzle of a book that will keep readers turning the pages to find out how it all fits together. Will they be totally satisfied by the ending? Maybe, maybe not. I was a little disappointed that the man in the gray suit remained completely unexplained--was he God or what?. But as a consolation, the books includes lots of delicious-sounding cake recipes to try. Recommended for fans of [b:Savvy|2133795|Savvy (Savvy, #1)|Ingrid Law|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347849557s/2133795.jpg|2596626], quirky mysteries, magical realism, and (of course) cake.

As for its Newbery chances, I can't see this as a serious contender. Though the plot is interesting and twisty, the setting, themes and characters are given short shrift. This is more a crowd-pleaser than awe-inspiring.… (meer)