“I’m actually adopted,” I admit.
It’s the truth, but I don’t expect the reaction it gets. Mr. Bradshaw tilts his head to the side. I see Tommy and Walter look at each other. Gracie’s eyes go really wide. Ugh, I should be used to this! This always happens! But I’m still as annoyed as ever that my classmates are judging me.”

This is my third book from Mark Oshiro and like The Insiders, I enjoyed it a lot. It felt like the right balance between writing about complex things for children without simplifying things and light heartedness without being too silly.

David is going to middle school and is nervous because he won’t be with his best friend in every class.
For some reason he acquires, and I quote, ‘a cursed disney movie companion’ who has the power to travel through time to let David see past things or even alter them.
Every small thing he does has its consequences when he returns to the ‘present’ and he spends most of the book trying to deal with the different results. Unlike epic adventure stories, the results were not world-altering, but they had major impact on David’s middle school life and I really liked that the book focused on that.

However, everything happens as the plot demands without explanation, which was confusing at times. At the end I still have no idea how Fea’s powers work and what caused the events to happen, why the ending was the way it was.
It felt like the author chose to focus on the emotional aspect of David’s journey and forgot to give an explanation for the supernatural things happening. I didn’t mind it though, because I find character arcs more important than a solid plot.

I also appreciated the focus on how people are so casually invasive and rude about adopted children. Not just the bullies in class, but the teacher and other adults act as if it is their right to demand very personal answers from David. Unfortunately that part was highly realistic. ( )

children's middlegrade fiction (suggested age 8-12, grades 4-7) - time travel misadventure starring 11 y.o. Latinx boy David (adopted and raised by Okinawan/Japanese and Mexican/Brazilian parents, and who may or may not have a crush on his best friend Antoine ) and a shape-shifting spirit guide.

lots of spunky characters (sorry, I can't think of a modern word for 'spunky') with snappy dialogue, a fast-paced adventure with tons of humor and kid appeal. The writing style does remind me of Percy Jackson/Tristan Strong, which is to say, kids will love this. ( )