In the opener of this humorous, futuristic sci-fi series, Finn and his friends Lincoln and Julep must defeat alien bugs and the tone is fairly goofy and light-hearted. Book 2 definitely has its funny moments, like the fact the means to time travel is a set of western themed pajamas, but suspenseful is the adjective that best fits this time around. The trio is put into life-threatening situations and rely not only on the technology of the day but their wits and successful, and sometimes not so successful, teamwork. The world and character building continues and by the end, I was wondering if Michael Buckley has a book 3 in mind. Text is free of profanity and sexual content and violence is relatively bloodless. Target age range: grades 4-7. Note: Reading book 1 is not a prerequisite for reading book 2.

Wasn't for me, a very low attempt at a fantasy novel for middle grade readers. I might give it to an elementary reader.

This was definitely not one of my favorites! I'd give it 2 1/2 stars but I don't want to give it just a 2-star rating. I enjoyed the first book and I thought it was a cute and simply, fun read, but this one was just a bit too much.

I didn't enjoy the plots with the time rangers, or the hopping around in time running from them. I skimmed through a lot of the middle section, to be honest. It started out fine and then once it got more into the time jumping and time rangers, etc it just became a bit too complicated, and I stopped enjoying it. I did finish the book, though, and I would most likely be picking up the third one when it comes out.

I was a big fan of the first book in this series - it is action packed and loaded with clever, deadpan, and witty humor. This followup is darker, busier, and more tense, with not nearly as light a humorous touch. I guess it makes sense to frame a sequel for a slightly older crowd, since your fans are growing up as you write.

Even though this was a YA book, I still found it entertaining. Finn sets off with one of the most unorthodox time machines - a pair of pajama. And like any good time traveling series, the time machine malfunctions almost immediately, getting Finn and his friends into unexpected adventures.

I liked how this book wasn’t all fluffy cotton candy - there was a couple of nice twists plus some lovely foreshadowing that enhanced the tension.

Highly recommended for middle schoolers!

Finn is at it again, time traveling and fighting monsters. In this second book, the monster is named Paradox and it's closer to Finn than he realizes. His two friends, Lincoln and Julip, travel thru time to help him fight Paradox and take their direction from Older Finn. Can they survive? This book is has adventure, plot twists, friendship, and futuristic aliens- fun for Middle Graders or the whole family.
We love Michael Buckley and found this book to be just as exciting and fun as his other ones. My eleven year old son loved the reveal of who Paradox was while we all enjoyed the well written characters. Fun and different book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance readers copy. I would recommend this book to Middle Grade readers, their parents, or anyone who likes a fun time travel story with friendship at it's core.

Finn and the Time-Traveling Pajamas is the second book in the Finniverse middle grade series. The first book is entitled Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox. So in case the covers don't give it away already, it's safe to say Finn Foley has had some strange adventures in his young life so far.

The second book references events from the first but doesn't rely on them so heavily that a reader couldn't pick the story up here. Having returned from traveling across the universe with his friends Lincoln and Julep, Finn now finds himself face-to-face with a group of Time Rangers, who accuse him and his friends of a range of crimes and want to lock them up. Thankfully, the trio is saved by the future version of Finn himself, who has a favor to ask. Old Man Finn has been fighting a monster known as Paradox all across the space-time condominium. He believes there are three key battles which, had he been given just a bit more of an edge, could have gone differently and ultimately turned the tide of war in Old Man Finn's favor.

If the setup sounds serious in comparison to the title, well, it actually is. Yes, it's a little goofy that Finn's time machine is in the form of a pair of pajamas, but other than that, the book got much darker than I expected. Rather than leaning towards younger middle grade, where the problems tend to be sillier with lighter consequences, Finn and the Time-Traveling Pajamas plants itself firmly in the center of the age range. The characters run into real life-or-death situations, both for themselves and those they care about. In fact, I wished the book leaned a bit more into the light and fun. The rules about time are a bit vague, and there's a lot of scenes with the trio of friends getting emotionally pummeled by their situation. At times, there's not even a clear path for them to fix things until a separate event throws them a lifeline. I'm all for characters getting in trouble. In fact, the more, the better. But watching them be lost and hopeless is less fun.

The story doesn't focus solely on Finn and his friends. Finn's sister gets a subplot with some heartfelt moments about "childish" interests conflicting with her desire to grow up. One of the adult characters also gets a POV in this book, though I confess their motivations seemed a little weak compared to others'. I wanted so much to get totally absorbed in this book, and there was plenty I enjoyed--particularly some of the surprising turns at the end. I just didn't completely fall in love with it the way I had hoped. Clearer time-travel rules and stronger paths forward for the characters would have gone a long way. But I'm definitely open to giving more of Michael Buckley's books a try.

One minor addendum: I noticed some of the events described in the back blurb don't occur until pretty late in the story. It's certainly not anything I would fault the author for, but it seemed worthy of note for those debating about picking up this series based on the blurb.

Finn is rescued from the time rangers by his older self, but than finds he must help get rid of Paradox to save the ones he loves even if it means losing them as well. But when his special cowboy pj's get a hole in them Finn and his friends time travel all over time.

I enjoyed this book so much the wonderful places the little group gets to see and the history they learn and recall from all these cool places, despite the danger they encounter in each spot it would still be cool to see these places. The characters work well each other and the book has so much action and suspense it should keep anyone's interest and reading past their bedtime.

My 9 year old son read this book with me and I thought his review would be most helpful since he is the target audience for this book. He had read the first book Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox earlier in the year and couldn't wait to read more about Finn's adventures. Here is his review: "I liked this book because it was thrilling, exciting and seemed like everything there could happen even though some of the ideas were wild. I also liked the humor of the pajamas and all the humor of just traveling back in time and seeing some odd events. My favorite character is Lincoln because he is humorous and he is the brawn to any situation. I would recommend reading the first book in the series before reading this one. There are lots of references to things that happened in the first book, and the first book provides the foundation for this book. I hope there will be a third book in this series soon! "

Honestly, I actually didn't know this was a series and I should really read the first book...but I felt there was enough details and recaps for me to follow enough of the story. I can see this being a great series that i already know a couple kids I would recommend this story too. There is decent character development with a fast moving plot which are two things that a lot of my middle grade readers look for! I'm looking forward to getting this book (and series) in their hands!!

This is the second book in the Finniverse series. Full disclosure, I did not read the first one and did not realize this was part of a series until I started reading it. Doesn't matter though, Buckley provides enough details and background information that a middle grader could pick this up and start reading it with no problem or confusion to the story. Finn, Julep, and Lincoln all go on a time traveling adventure thanks to a special cowboy patterned pajamas. Jumping through time, Finn and his friends are trying to set some things right that went wrong from the last book. Again, even though I didn't read book one, this book provides brief recaps of events from that book, so you're not missing information from it (though I should go read it because it sounds fun). While I, as an adult, would like more character development, this is perfect for those preteens who want fun characters and don't need to know a life story to go with them. This isn't the end of the road either, everything is up in the air, and when book three comes out we will find if Finn, Julep, and Lincoln actually survive. Looking forward to it.

I think kids may like this fast paced fantasy as characters jump around exciting dramatic moments in the past and future (with clones) and fight the monster Paradox. It still has the friendship with Finn, Lincoln and Julep. It's chaos with time wasn't written for me, and teh sequeal isn't as good as the first.

While being chased by the Time Rangers, Finn’s future self, jumps in to save him. With the help of his friends, Lincoln and Julep, future Finn needs present-day Finn to jump in time and do what he does best, cause destruction. The more destruction the causes throughout the times, the better chance his future self can save the universe and time from the time-traveling monster, Paradox. If present day Finn succeeds, his future self will tell him how to find his missing father. If he fails, Finn will be labeled a time criminal. To jump through time, he uses a pair of pajamas, but the pajamas malfunction and the trio get stranded in time. Can they fix the pajamas and save the universe and time? Can Finn find his father? The plot is engaging, fast-paced, and action-packed. The characters are realistic and easy to relate to. Fans of science fiction, time travel, heroes, and adventure will enjoy reading this book. Grades 5 to 9, 4 stars

Michael Buckley is slowly becoming a name in middle grade fiction. While I didn't really love his previous series, the Sisters Grimm, the Finniverse series has been a lot of fun so far. Buckley so far has shown a talent for action and humorous scenes, and the Time-Traveling Pajamas is replete with both. The characters are believable, even if they aren't very well developed, and the story line comes together with remarkable cleverness despite its many twists. While this one won't be going on my favorites shelf, I know some young people who will definitely find this a good read, and I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series.

What a cute story!!! My sons keep asking to read this story again and again! I'm so glad we got the chance to read and review this wonderful book!

Finn and the Time-Traveling Pajamas is an engaging and imaginative romp through time.. Finn and his friends Julep and Lincoln find themselves face to face with an elderly Finn in cowboy pajamas one lazy summer afternoon. The elder version of Finn sends them on a mission to 3 different time periods to assist in the fight to save the world from Paradox, the reshaper of time and space, using the time-machine/ cowboy pajamas.. Unfortunately, at the first stop the pj's are damaged and they wind up in times they weren't meant to be in!
The colorful cast of time traveling characters are fun and the take on how time works is cohesive and thoughtful. So many juvenile books are so HEAVY right now so it is very refreshing to have something fun and light. I would recommend it to my 6th graders and some 7th graders.

See my review in school library journal. I really liked it and will be buying it at both my libraries. I've already recommended the series to two patrons knowing when this comes out that it will be up their alley.