Huntington Memorial Library

Meg Murray and her friends search for her missing father, who disappeared while doing secret work for the government. They also become involved with some unearthly strangers in the story.

Then there was "The Time Machine," by H.G. Wells, which also became a classic movie. And think how many things science-fiction writers have written about the future which have become true. Wild imaginings during their time, but prophetic in the end.

Huntington Memorial Library has dozens of books on time travel and while we're all anxiously waiting for spring to arrive, why not take a trip with one of these books, even if it's only from your chair?

"Final Impact"

by John Birmingham

It's the year 2021 in John Birmingham's "Final Impact." A multinational fleet experimenting with weapons is hurled back in time to the year 1942. The world is thrown into chaos and the world's leaders must suddenly learn how to deal with high-tech killing weapons and ways of war.

"Rude Awakening

of a Jane Austen Addict"

by Laurie Rigler

Jane Mansfield has always wanted to escape the drudgery of 19th-century life. When she awakens as Courtney Stone in 21st century Los Angeles, she finds herself in a tiny apartment with barred windows. Gone are the wide expanses of lawn she is used to, but she does like the glass box that acts out scenes from books she has read. She likes the independence and the chance to earn money, but what is this horseless carriage she sees everywhere. You may find yourself laughing out loud in Laurie Rigler's "Rude Awakening of a Jane Austen Addict."

"The Pharaho's Secret"

by Marissa Moss

Talibah and her younger brother Adom are on a trip with their father to Egypt.

While he is working on a research assignment in "The Pharaoh's Secret," they become involved in a mystery involving Queen Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut is reaching out to Talibah and Adom from the past to help her reclaim her rightful place in history.

This Marissa Moss book is a great read for teens.

"Now and Then"

by Jacqueline

"Now and Then" by Jacqueline Sheehan finds Anna O'Shea thrust into 19th-century Ireland. She is searching for her nephew and finds the past is filled with hunger, struggle and difficulties.

Accustomed to modern-day living, such simple things as washing one's hair seem strange to the people of the time. Will every choice they make in old Ireland have an impact on the future as we know it?

"In the Courts of the Sun"

by Brian D'Amato

Travel from 2012 to 664 in Brian D'Amato's "In the Courts of the Sun." Jed DeLanda is a descendant of the Mayas and earns his living doing online trading.

He uses the "sacrifice game," which is a derivative from an ancient Mayan ritual of prediction. When mankind finds itself nearly at the end of time, Jed is chosen to go back to 664 through a desktop wormhole.

Of course, things don't work out exactly as planned. Jed's trip will decide the fate of the world, but can he pull it off?

"Turnabout"

by Margaret Haddix

Perhaps my all-time-favorite book on time travel is "Turnabout" by Margaret Haddix. Imagine, if you will, that you are elderly and living in a nursing home. You and several others receive an injection to reverse the aging process.

You progressively get younger, instead of getting older. When you reach your ideal age, you'll receive a second shot to help you stay just as you are.

But things go wrong, and you don't stop getting younger. Suddenly, you can no longer drive, and you realize with horror that in a few years you'll be back in diapers. A riveting page-turner.