A quick few thoughts: Story about a boy and his inventor dad, meant to be a humorous adventure told in first person. However, it's slow to start and the writing can be a bit didactic which causes the humor to not quite ever fully materialize. It is fast paced and an easy read and some students who like science fiction and adventures will enjoy it. Has good use of vocabulary, but ultimately more of a niche read than a classroom addition.
The theme seems to be better geared toward adults, as considering who you once were and how you would change things is not something kids think about. ( )

Science and fun hit quirky humor as a boy, Julian, taps into time travel with unexpected twists and adventure.

Julian is twelve-years old and pretty normal for a kid. That is, if his dad wasn't a genius but mad inventor and his family wasn't constantly moving around. Julian always changes schools and has not only trouble with bullies but also finding friends. Still, none of this is a real problem. When his father invents the eTab, it has an unexpected side-effect. Soon, Julian finds himself leaping back and forth through time. When his older self appears and insists that Julian has effected the timeline and must bring everything back into sync, Julian's life really turns into an adventure.

The book is told in narrative form by Julian. The first couple of chapters give the reader time to sink into his life and world, one which sets the perfect tone. His mother is grounded and keeps life organized, while his father swings in a complete opposite direction as a crazy scientist. The fantasy aspect is clear from the get-go and allows the science to sweep into more fantastical directions. It's action and adventure with a huge does of humor and fun.

There's never a boring moment as Julian finds himself traveling through time. This takes a few new twists on the time travel direction, which give it a refreshing spin. Fun and humor hold firm, making it an enjoyable read, and yet, there are a few messages swung in, which make the reader think.
It's a fun read for humor and adventure fans.

I received a complimentary copy through Library Thing and found this to be such a fun story that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. ( )

This is the story about a boy whose father is an inventor and likes to tinker around with creating new things. Many of these inventions or attempts at have gone awry causing the family to have to move as the family home was destroyed in explosions.

Julian seems to finally be happy and feels more secure in this new small town which seems to have a feeling of closeness and connectivity among its residents. That is until his fathers latest invention the E-Tab causes a shocking and unnerving feeling when he is confronted by older young man whom claims to be none other than Julian himself albeit 8 years older.

The book takes the pair on an adventure where the older Julian attempts to give advice and wisdom to his younger self without revealing to much about the future, but to also help young Julian become a little less awkward. The reason for the older Julian's visit is that his E-Tab is low on power after he visited the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg, losing his cell phone. He has come to young Julian's time in order to re-charge the near dead battery of the older Julian's E-Tab, which has a really unique power source. If they fail the older Julian's battery dies completely he will be trapped in the past and time will be altered forever.

I think children will like it, would make for some fun conversations about what you would do if confronted with an older version of yourself. Would you want information that could change or make your decisions easier. As an adult reading this I would have like to have seen the idea of time travel flushed out a little, maybe even going on an adventure together through time. Maybe just maybe the author will write future adventures involving Julian and his time travel adventures. ( )

WHAT ITS ABOUT:
Twelve-year-old Julian Newcomber knows he has a fitting—what the smart folks call apropos—last name. His family moves constantly due to his Dad's quirky inventions, which have a habit of misbehaving and blowing up the family home. So he's always been the new kid in school.

Now firmly settled in a peaceful and close-knit community, Julian believes he's finally found a home, not to mention a safe haven from his father's calamities. That is, until a vaguely familiar 20-year-old man walks out of the bedroom closet, and identifies himself as future Julian.



It turns out that his father's latest contraption, the eTab, alters time. So grown-up Julian decided to take a joyride into the past and dropped his cell phone on a Civil War battlefield. (Who wouldn't want to see Pickett’s Charge, after all?)



With his own eTab too low on juice to take him all the way back to his own time, grown-up Julian needs young Julian to locate a quantity of Cucumium so he can go back to the Civil War and retrieve his cell phone, then get home before his parents find out.

The two Julians break rules, break curfews, and break into the Intermediate School in an effort to locate some Cucumium (though they're not exactly sure what it is), so they won't be forced to share the room and fight over the top bunk forever. Oh, and if grown-up Julian stays, it could, as a side effect, pollute the natural timeline and rewrite history as they know it.

The way the narrator told the story was quite humorous and really kept the reader engaged. Its pretty enjoyable and a quick read, the characters are funny and relatable and the plot isn't to confusing. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure,sci-fi, and a whole lot of laughter.

I received this book as part of the LibraryThing EarlyReviewers program. A time-traveling tablet made by Julian's inventing dad causes trouble when his future self accidentally drops his cell-phone while watching the Civil War. I know I'm not the target age group for this book, but I was disappointed by it. I know time-travel is hard to write about, but the description of what the tablet was doing just didn't make sense. I do think kids who like big words might like the parts where the author used a simple word, and then said something like, "or as someone who uses big words would say,..." and use a bigger vocab word. And for kids who like things that are silly, maybe? ( )