CHASING THROUGH TIME

In Hodgson’s YA novel, two teens separated by more than two decades find each other via a mysterious computer link.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Saulson lives in Meference County in January 2001; Emma Stephenson, who’s also a sophomore at local Cardothia High School, lives in January 2022. Despite living in two different eras, the two girls become fast friends, bonding through online chats after a strange electrical storm forges a link across time between their two computers. Emboldened by the anonymity of the chat, both girls quickly share the struggles they’re facing in school, although Sarah is more forthcoming than Emma, at first. Sarah’s best friend has cut her off with no explanation; Emma briefly dated a popular classmate at school, and a risqué photo that she sent him appeared on his public social media page. He’s now dating her former friend, and ever since, Emma has endured a flood of cyberbullying from her classmates. Although the details of their difficulties differ, both girls have feelings of isolation and despair in common and advise each other accordingly. Hodgson portrays the emotional depths of both Sarah and Emma in a way that feels authentic, and it will ring true for teen readers facing similar situations. However, the two main characters accept the reality of the time bridge a bit too readily, asking each other only a few questions—mostly about 2022 internet lingo—before they’re satisfied. Also, despite their emotional closeness, they can’t intervene in each other’s lives; Sarah grows more confident with support from her parents, but Emma’s family is more distant, and she feels trapped in a downward spiral. This crisis comes to a head toward the end of the novel and leads to a reveal that perceptive readers will have seen coming from the second chapter. Still, the plot turn ties the threads of the narrative together in a satisfying way.

A resonant exploration of the emotional lives of high schoolers with a time-bending twist.