23 Minutes

“(W)ith new details in each playback, a gradual explanation of Zoe’s background, and a slowly forming bond between Zoe and Daniel, readers will remain engaged and invested in the story line…. For middle school and early high school fans of speculative fiction.” –School Library Journal

“Blue-haired Zoe Mahar ducks into a bank to escape a downpour and comes face to face with a robber who’s not afraid to use his gun. The violent encounter leaves two people dead, including a friendly young man who shields Zoe from a bullet. But Zoe, 15, has a special ability to turn back the clock 23 minutes just by saying “playback,” allowing her to change the outcome of events….Vande Velde brilliantly opens the novel… Zoe comes across as a clever girl with a sense of humor about her own opinionated nature. A gripping page-turner for time fantasy enthusiasts.” –Kirkus Reviews

(G)ripping from the start… Zoe is a compelling heroine in a tense situation… an ideal option for reluctant readers—they’ll dive in in spite of themselves and likely find it hard to put down.’ –The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“[Zoe] can travel back in time—within limits. She can play back exactly twenty-three minutes and can redo the same time block up to ten times….Just when she thinks she has things figured out, in the next rerun of those not-quite-the-same twenty-three minutes, a fresh revelation clobbers her. Velde strengthens the tension with a third-person point of view that allows readers to be clobbered more deliciously at a distance.” –VOYA Magazine