The book follows 11-year-old Roger Tarkington, a 6th grade middle school student who uncovers a magic calendar that allows him to travel back and forth in time by pressing his wall calendar. This is a great book for middle school kids just trying to survive those difficult years in school.

This is an interesting take on time travel, as it is a bit of that, and a bit of Ground Hog Day, because Roger, who has a magic calendar that can allow him to travel to whatever day he points to, keeps going back to the same day to fix the thing that he messed up the first time he was in it.

And apparently, when he time travels, his current self remains in place, and goes through the days, and lets him know what he missed in the non-time travel, by leaving a voice message on his phone, which he sometimes listens to, and sometimes doesn’t which allows him to get into even more trouble.

The plot of this adventure, since it is written as though there will be another book after this, is that Roger thinks that a friend of his is being bullied into writing essays for the football team. The mystery is actually who is setting this up to happen. Roger thinks he knows who is behind it, and acts accordingly, each time he goes back to the particular day he noticed it, but keeps not listening to his recordings, and keeps jumping to conclusions.

It is an enjoyable book, but I was disappointed with the ending, although I suppose that is the way the author wanted us to know there was another book to come. Good mystery, though.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Roger has a calendar that he hangs inside his locker door. Roger found out that his calendar is magical in that he can do time travel. When Roger’s class gets assigned to read Robin Hood, he decides he will be Roger Hood for his classmates. Roger does a lot of time travel to help himself besides some football players. Then due to a proble he needs to stop before becoming one, he has his friend Elizabeth go with him back to a certain day. When Elizabeth is late for class, Elizabeth says to Roger, I didn’t think it was a school day. He had forgotten to tell her that time travel skips a day when they return to the present time. When Roger finds out about a s candle, Roger enlists Elizabeth’s help again. Will they be able to stop it or not? Will they get caught doing time travel?

In the novel, Roger’s time travel adventures makes his life at times complicated. There are so many twists and turns in his adventures that he didn’t expect. It’s fun to read and see what Roger will do to solve the problems that arise. I must admit that after reading this book, I don’t think I will do time travel if I am ever given the opportunity.

Roger Tarkington and the Magic Calendar is an entertaining look at daily life for students at Jefferson Middle School.
I’m sure we’d all love to turn back time to prevent a small but potentially embarrassing moment happening (eg dropping your lunch or colliding with somebody), well Roger has a magic calendar that allows him to time travel to do just this - but he soon comes to realise that altering a situation can help people but inadvertently hurt them too. There is a moral theme that runs through the book, that situations & people sometimes aren’t quite what they seem, and truth should always win!
Our main characters are Roger & his best friend Elizabeth Emily Elliot (nicknamed E3), and the accompanying cast of characters include the personalities commonly found at school – though they are rather stereotypical.
Overall this is a fun book, written in a sort of diary format with lots of humour that 8-12 year olds will enjoy. Adults might find it a bit far fetched & confusing (you have to just accept what’s there & not try to keep tabs on what was changed & when!). It’s very American & some of the language/scenarios will not be familiar to UK children of the right age so I’m not sure I would recommend it for them.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free from the publisher via NetGalley. Whilst thanks go to the publisher for the opportunity to read it, all opinions are my own.

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Roger Tarkington is bullied at school, and miserable until he finds a way to change it. He discovers a magic calendar and is able to relive his embarrassing moments and make changes. But is it worth it?

This is a fun and educational book that middle schoolers will enjoy, but with parental supervision due to the bullying and other sensitive situations. The characters are interesting and the time travel premise is clever.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley. My review is voluntary.

After his adventures in Quest for Middle School Greatness, Roger finds that his time traveling calendar comes in handy once again. This time, he finds that Adam is doing homework for Jonas, who is on the football team and struggling to get everything done. His friend, E3, is trying to break the story for the school paper, and Roger is trying to become closer to his crush, Camila. There's corruption in the administration and the coaching staff, but Roger has trouble traveling to the right time and place to help overturn it. Will he be framed, or will he be able to figure out how to stop the conniving villains from damaging the school's reputation? Great for fans of Rylander's The Fourth Stall or Ferraiolo's The Big Splash.

Perfect book for middle school aged children. The book does a great job of balancing imagination with real life. I enjoyed how chapter titles include the middle school survival tips.