Elsetime is a historical fiction Middle-Grade book. It follows Needle and Glory. Glory is an orphan in Inthington in 1928. She only has one hand and she designs jewelry. Needle can read treasures and hear colors. He hunts for treasures with his crow – named Magpie – in Inthington in 1964.

When Needle and Magpie manage to travel into Glory’s world, she learns that there will be a great flood the next day which will take fourteen lives. The three friends need to warn the town about the flood but no one will listen to them.

I loved this book. I was smiling for almost the entire time I was reading it. Elsetime has an amazing ending that puts a new perspective on a lot of the interactions in the book.

The characters in Elsetime are all amazing. They’re all so different from each other and are really interesting to learn about throughout the book. The friendship between Needle and Glory is especially fun to read about as it develops. They both see and interact with the world so differently. It puts a new view on the events every time the perspective changes. My favorite character is definitely Magpie. She is my favorite fictional crow – probably of all time. I love how she is both very unhelpful and very helpful with whatever she does and I’m really glad I got to learn so much about her while reading this book. There are also some beautiful illustrations of Magpie every few chapters.

I would recommend this book to anyone 9+ who enjoys historical fiction and time travel.