(2) 4-6 It's the summer of 1999. Twelve-year-old Delawarean Michael has worries, chief among them the approach of Y2K. What if everything falls apart? Family finances are precarious, so he's amassing a stash of groceries acquired through shoplifting. Then he meets an odd new kid. Ridge appears disoriented, as well he might, as he has time-traveled there from two hundred years in the future. In transcripts of conversations and documents from that future, we discover that Ridge went rogue and time-traveled without permission, putting himself and possibly the whole history of civilization at risk. There's a technical blip that might trap the traveler at the end of the twentieth century. A time-travel plot always involves logical conundrums, and Kelly (Those Kids from Fawn Creek, rev. 3/22) neatly grounds the mind-bending what-ifs of cause, effect, and the nature of time with real, present relationships and situations, kids with a secret, and a major problem to solve. It's a well-crafted adventure surrounding a big philosophical idea with a side of middle-grade romance. The non-dystopian (although still fragile) vision of the future is tantalizing: cures for allergies and the common cold, progress on plastic pollution, women taking the lead in science and technology. (But apparently teens and tweens will still drive their parents up the wall.)

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2024

(4) 4-6 Century Kids series. In Earthsong, some friends fight pollution and start a band to promote their cause. In Families, despite fears associated with Y2K, the Aldriches reunite on New Year's Eve to celebrate a family member's centennial. The characterizations are superficial and the stories feel rushed, but the ten-volume series remains strong. Black-and-white photos of cultural artifacts enhance the nostalgic mood. [Review covers these Century Kids titles: The 1980's and The 1990's.]

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) YA A collection of millennial-themed stories contains mostly lesser work from YA stalwarts Madeleine L'Engle, Avi, Janet Taylor Lisle, Rita Williams-Garcia, Nancy Springer, and Michael Cadnum. First-rate contributions come from Richard Peck, with a funny tale about one of his indomitable old ladies, and Natalie Babbitt, whose story is a wry fable about a man who goes to great lengths in order to see tomorrow, today.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) 4-6 Other than a few pages that survey topics such as the Renaissance and Heroes and Heroines, the volume comprises a year-by-year review of the past millennium. Early entries generally list one significant event per year, although more recent times usually include numerous items both serious and ephemeral (1978 marks both the Jonestown murders and the weighing in of the world's heaviest man). Color photographs brighten the browsable book. Ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jonathan Hunt. Providing a historical overview of the world's cultures at the turn of the last millennium, each double-page spread features a brief survey of life in a different location. The blandly competent text touches on topics such as agriculture, commerce, and architecture in, among others, North America, China, and Australia. The color illustrations sometimes have a static quality. Interesting concepts; unexciting presentation. Bib.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta