Tomorrow's Guardian by Richard Denning

Tomorrow's Guardian is another children/teen's book, and is D in my series of choosing books based on author's name.  I think the reason I have so many kids books in my to-read list, is because every now and then I come across lists of "30 books every bibliophile should read", "50 books everyone should read before they are 50", and recently a "books every child should read before they are 21".  I add them to my wishlist, thinking that my girls may want to read them one day.  Of course, they don't want to.  At some point I get notified that books on my wishlist are free, so I "buy" them given the chance, and they automatically get added to the to-read list on my kindle.  And since they sound good, at some point I actually download them to read them - like this one - without realising until I actually start reading that they are aimed at children, and not 30-something year old adults...

The blurb says:

Experiencing disturbing episodes of déjà-vu, eleven year old Tom believes he is going mad. Then, he meets the adventurer Septimus Mason, who shows him that he is a “Walker” – someone who can transport himself to other times and places.

Septimus explains that these abilities could be removed leaving him, once more, an ordinary schoolboy. Given the hurt these talents have caused, the choice would seem easy enough, but it is not so simple.

In dreams, Tom has experienced life as other “Walkers” in times of mortal danger: Edward Dyson killed at the Battle of Isandlwana, 1879; Mary Brown who perished in the Great Fire of London, 1666; and finally Charlie Hawker, a sailor who was drowned on a U-boat in 1943.

Reluctantly agreeing to travel back in time and rescue them, Tom has three dangerous adventures before returning to the present day.

Tom’s troubles have only just started, however, for he has now drawn the attention of powerful individuals who seek to use him to change history and to bend it to their will. This leads to a struggle wherein Tom’s family are obliterated from existence and Tom must make a choice between saving them and saving his entire world.

The Hourglass Institute Series is a Time Travel adventure for Young Adults: Time Travel Sounds like fun until you try it.

Prepare yourself for a thrilling dash through history as your read about the adventures of Tom and the Hourglass Institute.

Without overstating it, I was blown away by this book.  Yes, it is aimed at teens or young adults, but there is a lot going on within it.  There is the sci-fi aspect of the time travel, or since it is an innate talent of the Walker it could be seen as magic with a fantasy genre.  It also has aspects of historical fiction, as Tom goes back in time to different periods; horror due to living/experiencing the deaths of other Walkers from the past, and the story describes a dystopian future of what could be if our history was to be altered.

As I am trying to read all the books on my kindle and not by more, I have 'only' added the sequel to my wishlist, rather than buying it outright; but I look forward to reading the next in Tom's adventures when I do start buying books again.  (I am also trying to encourage my girls to read this book, so that they get absorbed by this book and provide me with the excuse of buying the next one earlier, lol.)