Age Group: KS3 (Ages 11-14)

This is an intriguing twist on the time travel genre. The main protagonists are genius twelve-year-old twins – Pearl and Patrick – who are about as far from being ‘normal’ children as possible, although they hide their abilities well from their peers. Pearl is an engineering whizz with a host of mind-blowing inventions to her name, and Patrick has an unsurpassed knowledge of the whole of history. They have engaged in a variety of illegal behaviours using Pearl’s inventions, for example, stealing a diamond from the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London or removing part of a stealth plane from Area 51, and are being watched by MI5!

Then Pearl invents a time machine which relies upon the acquisition of historical items that are originally from the era to which you wish to travel. Despite believing that they have made a successful initial jump back to Ancient Egypt, there is a nasty surprise in store from a secret society which shows just how much damage their little jaunt has done.

There are many interesting themes woven in: the twins’ family has Sri Lankan heritage, which becomes inextricably linked to the storyline further on; Pearl is a fierce advocate for women’s contributions to science to be recognised; and school dynamics where friendship needs to transcend race, culture and ability. Bullying is an issue too and Pearl’s sometimes self-aggrandising motives could provoke interesting discussions.

You can tell that the author has previously written YA books as some of the twins’ achievements may require some explanation to younger readers e.g. breaking into Fort Knox or trying to win the Nobel Prize, and Pearl’s inventions would be ground-breaking sci-fi concepts for this age group. It all makes for an exciting and fast-paced read with likeable characters – I’d love to read more in this series.