This Again?

THIS AGAIN? by Adam Borba is a middle-grade time travel story in which Noah tries to repair the worst day of his life. He’s never been able to measure up to his brother’s legacy, and now is his chance. If he gets elected as class president, that would prove to everyone, including himself, that he’s just as good. The problem is his campaign isn’t going as well as he’d like, until he gets help from an unexpected place, himself from the future. Future Noah knows exactly what present Noah needs to do to win, but when events start shifting, like his scientist parents not discovering the key to time travel, present Noah begins to wonder if his future self really does have all the answers.

This book is the perfect example of a genre-blend well-executed. Borba does a fantastic job at giving us a contemporary story with relatable issues that any human faces, not just a middle-grader, and then weaves in the science fiction as a tool for his main character to have important realizations and lessons. My favorite part of this story is what Noah comes to understand once he moves through the ultimate embarrassing moment and sees how life looks on the other side. It’s such a great reminder for us all, and by using time travel as a device, we get to this moment in such a unique, entertaining way that allows the message to land organically.

I also really enjoy the other themes explored in this book, such as wanting to fit in and how far is too far to get what you want. These ideas are universal, and experiencing them through Noah’s eyes helps to put some choices into perspective. Borba’s tagline, “The only thing trickier than time travel is middle school,” is the best summation of Noah’s experience and journey we go on in this story.

Aside from that, what makes a signature Adam Borba book is the voice. He always nails it from the first page, and it makes the reading such a compelling delight. With his background in film, it’s easy to visualize all the scenes, as the reader is dropped right in the action. Noah’s also such a lovable character, despite being his own worst enemy at times, and Borba does a great job at making us root for him.

Overall, THIS AGAIN? is another great book from Adam Borba, proving he knows how to deliver a fantastic story again and again. Fans of his won’t be disappointed, and I’d love to see future stories set in this world!

Noah Nicholson has an absolutely disastrous day when he has to give a speech for the class president election at East Hills Middle School in Albany, New York. He has a plan. A good plan. It involves becoming class president, doing well on the bowling team, going to Harvard like his older brother Paul, and becoming a college professor of physics. His parents are co chairs in a university science department, so there is a definite trend toward embracing academia. However, he's not doing well in math, and his pants rip when he stands to give his speech. He panics and runs off staging, giving everyone a glimpse of his pink underwear. This horrifies him. He tries to get over it, but keeps seeing someone who looks just like him hanging around town. When his doppelganger knocks on his window late at night, he finds out the truth. His parents, inspired by a new blender, have invented a time machine, and he's traveled from eight days in the future to try to help himself avoid his mistakes. His future self, who helpfully suggests he be called "Future", which certainly makes things much easier, has some odd suggestions, like making Noah learn to drink tea. He wants to help Noah win the election, and has a plan to make him more popular that involves an afternoon detention picking up trash with the popular kids. Future manages to engineer a meeting with Noah's crush, Lucy Martinez, at a tea shop, so the tip about tea was a good one. Noah doesn't break the blender, so the family doesn't need a new one, and efforts have to be made to change this so that time travel will be invented. This happens, and the resultant machine involves a computer and a claw foot bathtub, very similar to Welford's in Time Traveling with a Hamster. Noah is subjected to all sorts of embarassing things, like showing up in a lime green tuxedo to play basketball, but in the end, he finds out that this is the twentieth time Future has tried to fix the day. When Paul comes home from Harvard, having dropped out, Noah must reassess his life. Is it worth traveling through time to be perfect, or should he take what life gives him and make it work?