Girl Out of Time
A Novel
by Clyde Boyer
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Pub Date Mar 07 2023 | Archive Date Mar 06 2023
Girl Friday Productions | Girl Friday Books
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Description
A young girl befriends a time traveler on the run. Now, to save the world, she must learn to fly, track down aliens, and traverse space and time.
After thirteen-year-old Anna Armstrong loses her parents in an accident, she is sent to live on her Uncle Jack’s farm. She is despondent, but on her first night there, she is awoken by strange lights originating from a nearby lake. She sets out to investigate—and the skies suddenly erupt in a thunderous explosion.
That’s when Anna sees a mysterious woman floating across the lake.
She discovers Mara—the woman on the lake—is a time traveler on the run from frightening bone-white alien creatures. She also learns that time travel has consequences. Mara’s time-hopping escape has broken the universe, opening wormholes throughout the valley, each leading to another world.
Now, Mara needs Anna’s help—together, they must use science to track down the aliens and close the portals before anything escapes. But can they figure out how before Mara’s very existence is erased forever?
Girl Out of Time is a thrilling adventure of two unlikely friends who team up to take on a world of aliens, wormholes, and time travel—to save themselves and, possibly, the entire planet.
A Note From the Publisher
Cofounder of Trinity Education Group and the nonprofit Opa Health, Clyde Boyer is a social entrepreneur and former farm kid who has spent his life working with underserved youth and migrant populations, and building learning hubs in Africa and Latin America. He is also a frequent public speaker and an advisory board member of SXSW EDU. A practicing Biomimic, he believes nature is the best teacher in solving many of our world's issues. Girl Out of Time is a passion project aimed at providing hope to today's youth.
Advance Praise
"Girl Out of Time is a thought-provoking, intensely absorbing flight of fancy, perfect for every reader who dreams of flying further." —The Children’s Book Review
“Introducing alien worlds and time travel elements, Girl Out of Time is an exciting novel.” —Foreword Reviews
“A sparkling debut that not only thrills but motivates and inspires. A must read.” —Brett Battles, USA Today bestselling author of the Project Eden series
“Girl Out of Time propels us toward a desirable horizon fueled by the power of imagination.” —Pablo Herrera, filmmaker and founder of Colectivo Piloto
“[Girl Out of Time goes] beyond doing what every great fiction book does; not only did I get hooked, I now have hope. Thoroughly entertaining and wildly imaginative, Boyer accomplished two challenging feats in one fell swoop—he kept me wanting to know more while eagerly wanting to get this in the hands of our youth. Infusing our future generations with possibility and optimism is an imperative for sparking the fresh innovation our humanity desperately craves. Girl Out of Time provides a path to do just that.” —Amy Eliza Wong, Amazon bestselling author of Living on Purpose
Marketing Plan
- Pre-publicity reviews and testimonials, including submission for review to all trade media outlets, including School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, Kirkus, Book Links, The Horn Book, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, The Children's Book Review, and more
- Possible advertising in Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf and Shelf Awareness
- Submissions for all relevant book awards in the children's category
- Target YA book blogs and Vlogs on YouTube and TikTok including Forever YA, KidLit
- Reviews and giveaways on Social Media Book Groups including: Young Adult Book Club, YA Fiction Book Club, YA Fiction Addiction, Rebel Readers, Indie YA Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction and Fantasy Fiction for Young Adults, YA Sci-Fi and Fantasy Addicts
- Anticipated praise from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jason Reynolds, Carl Hiassen, and Nic Stone
- Possible participation in the London Book Fair 2023
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781954854222 |
PRICE | $12.95 (USD) |
PAGES | 374 |
Featured Reviews
Girl Out of Time by Clyde Boyer was more than what I was expecting. I devoured it.
Anna and even Mara's adventure was fun, exciting and just what I needed.
This was a wonderfully written book and I especially loved the dialogue and the unexpected events.
Talk about science, aliens, portals/time travel and wormholes the power of friendship and working together with a little touch of mystery this is one book I can't wait to get for my 13 yr old nephew.
Two girls out tonsave the planet, I'm sure most Jr High kids will connect with these characters and enjoy this story just as much as I did.
I had the best time being sucked into this world.
And I will definitely be adding Boyer to my list for the kids in the future.
"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Girl Friday Books
Thank You for your generosity and approving this eARC!
Thank you #NetGalley and #GirlFridayBooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
After Anna is orphaned, she is packed off to Uncle Jack’s research farm. Because Anna’s eyes are always on the sky (and her heart is in space), she notices that there’s something unusual about the sky around the farm. Strange lights and odd noises lead Anna to befriend Mara, an unusual woman who lives in an…unusual…home on the shores of a nearby lake. Anna quickly learns that Mara is more than she first appears.
Numerous elements and episodes of the story are firmly rooted in popular culture. Rather than making the story trite, these roots help the story feel like a modern twist on that which we already know. Time travel, wormholes, and creatures from other dimensions combine to make this fast-paced story work. Anna’s innate curiosity elevates these potentially scary elements to pure adventure as she embraces new experiences and new friends.
I loved the discussion on contemporary agricultural practices and the need to find ways to sustainably farm for a growing population. The diverse cast of characters make clear that sustainable agriculture is a worldwide issue. This important aspect of the story is accessible without being patronizing to young people.
Engaging characters makes this a fun read that explores deeper themes such as friendship, finding purpose, and finding hope in an often confusing world. This book is great for middle school and early high school age kids, those who like a splash of science in their stories, and those who always try to do the right thing.
After the tragic death of her parents, 8th grader Anna moves from her hometown of Boston to the rural farmland with her uncle Jack. With her love of science guiding her, Anna discovers an anomaly in the time-space continuum right in her backyard. Here she meets Mara, a mysterious woman from the future and her AI support SID. When a wormhole opens up and another creature enters her world, both Anna and Mara end up on the adventure of a lifetime.
I LOVED this story! The whole storyline was engaging, exciting, and just the type of thing to captivate my sci-fi loving middle schoolers.
ARC provided by NetGalley and Girl Friday in exchange for a fair review.
I enjoyed reading Girl Out of Time. I wanted all of the futuristic technology that was included throughout the story. I think readers will enjoy imagining themselves flying through space like our main character.
Girl Out of Time by Clyde Boyer is such a fun Science Fiction Novel for all ages. I throughly enjoyed reading it. Anna and Mara’s Friendship was fun to read, and I absolutely loved their adventure together. This was an exciting experience with so many unexpected events throughout the story. I never knew where it would take me as a reader next. I love the talk and experience reading about portals/time travel, Aliens and wormholes. I will definitely have to pick this up when it comes out and read it a second time. All of the characters are easy to connect with and understand, they were realistic and felt very well written, Clyde Boyer did an amazing job on this one! 5 Stars.
Thank you so much to Clyde Boyer, Girl Friday Books, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
An adventure through time à la Doctor Who, Girl Out of Time is a beautiful story about finding yourself and belonging.
Great debut novel targeted at older school kids to Young Adults. A great read: female lead, science fiction and thoughtful messages about the planet and us as custodians. Recommended. thank you to #netgalley for advance copy
This was a fun sci-fi read that I think toes the line of middle school and young adult. I enjoyed the characters and the emphasis on empathy for our fellow man or alien. I think Mara's world could have done with more building.
I noticed that Boyer rarely uses placeholders like "it," "she," or "them." This makes his paragraphs sound repetitive when he's always referring to a person or object by full name.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clyde Boyer for the loan!
‘Girl Out of Time’ is the most charming book I have read recently. It bundles some very loveable characters as part of a nice sci-fi story.
Anna in a tragic turn of events loses both her parents in an accident. Her Aunt Claire cares for her briefly, and she later moves in with her Uncle Jack. Jack is an agricultural scientist & farmer who is working on building new age crops in his farm in collaboration with Dr Gloria. Anna grows to love the town and the farm. She also adjusts well to her school and makes a few friends, many of whom appreciate her intellectual abilities.
Anna keenly observes some strange atmospheric phenomenon at night. Her pursuits lead her to Mara, a lady who has come here from the future. Mara lives a secluded life which she explains is because she has found that interaction with other people tends to change the timeline of events with undesirable effects. The two become inseparable friends and Anna also introduces Mara after a while to Jack as her teacher. Mara brings future tech with her - anti-gravity shoes which help elevation/flying, a personal advanced communicator iCom and an AI assistant – SID. Mara tells Anna about a wormhole which has opened up and an excited Anna coaxes her to allow her to travel to the wormhole and see other worlds. They also realize that there is an alien life form which is stuck on Earth after arriving accidentally via the wormhole. Mara also has some ‘Others’ chasing her across time and she is not sure how long she can evade them and stay safe.
The writing is very good and the descriptions of the farm, atmospheric events evoke excellent visual imagery. Anna & Mara are absolutely lovely characters, as also are Jack and Anna’s friends. The book refers to many concepts you would find in mainstream science fiction books but does not devote much space in context setting to make it appear to be credible science. While I suppose middle graders will also appreciate it, it is ideal reading for teens and well – also adults!. This is a slightly bigger book than I would have expected for the storyline, but the pace is very good, and I was engrossed from start to finish.
A lovely book which I am sure most will enjoy reading! Strongly recommended!
My rating: 4.5 / 5.
Girl Out of Time by Clyde Boyer
Anna Armstrong is a brilliant precocious girl who has always been fascinated by space. In fact, she has attempted to launch herself several times into space but unfortunately her homemade rocket ships did not have sufficient enough power to get her there. Tragically, on the day of one of her “launches”, she learns that her mother and father have died on their way back home from Europe. Thirteen year old Anna then goes to live with her kind uncle Jack on his farm research center outside Smartt Indiana.
Very soon upon her arrival, Anna sees strange lights in the distance and eventually goes and investigates. There, she discovers a different dimension in time and space, where girl named Mara exists. Anna soon becomes involved in trying to help Mara save the world from the repercussions of time travel using Science to help them.
This is such a wonderful book about responsibility, friendship and science. The young people presented are supportive and caring towards each other and lessons learned about curiosity, responsibility and friendship abound.
This book should be added to school libraries as well as any little classroom library. It is a science fiction novel that is accessible to upper elementary and middle school students.
I really enjoyed this story!! Anna must leave Boston to live with her uncle on a farm after her parents die. I’m not one to really enjoy sci-fi type books but this one was quite good! I liked the storyline, the science behind it, and Anna’s curiosity! It was a really cute read. I would recommend this book with my middle school students !
Thank you to Net Galley, Girl Friday Books, and the author for the ARC.
This is such a unique story. I won’t summarise the plot as the synopsis covers it pretty well — instead, let’s get into what makes it so good!
Anna and Mara are wonderfully written characters. I loved their dynamic and their character development. Other characters weren’t quite so vividly depicted, but for a middle grade novel, that makes sense — I know that when I was twelve or so, I’d really only have been interested in the leads.
I also liked the fact that the writing style was accessible for a young audience without talking down to them. It’s a fine line to walk, but the author definitely makes it work!
This is a lovely standalone, but I’d read a sequel, no question!