A Year Without Autumn, by Liz Kessler. Published by Orion
A Year Without Autumn is Liz Kessler’s first standalone title for 9-12 year olds. In it Kessler breaks slightly new ground while revisiting the themes of friendship and change.
Jenni Fisher and her family holiday in Riverside Village at the same time every year as does her best friend, Autumn Leonard. It’s a reassuring tradition and one that the girls look forward to.
But this year, Jenni finds herself trapped in an inexplicable time shift. It seems she’s gone forward a year. She discovers that a tragedy in the Leonard family has caused lasting damage both to her friendship with Autumn and to the relationships within both families. The further she travels into the future, the worse the outlook appears.
In a well-plotted, gripping story – told in the dramatic present – the reader follows Jenni as she struggles with the complications of the future while trying to find her way back into the past in an attempt to alter what triggered the tragedy.
Jenni’s voice generally rings true and girls her age will recognise elements of their own friendships.
The ending is satisfyingly surprising and challenges the reader to contemplate the power they have over their own destinies.