4.5 ⭐️'s. Spectacular YA novel. I might bump the rating up. I was unable to put this book down. Definitely looking forward to reading part 2.

Elliott, Zetta. A Wish After Midnight. 2016.

Genna wants to get out of Brooklyn and away from her bad neighborhood. She makes a wish in a fountain and her wish is granted - she is transported back to Brooklyn during the Civil War. She tries to survive in this new time, when she has significantly fewer rights. Eventually her boyfriend shows up in the past as well, and together they try to return to their own time period.

This book was extremely similar to Kindred, and I could easily recommend it to a teen who enjoys historical fiction or time travel. The insta-love between Genna and her boyfriend did not thrill me, nor did the fact that Genna returns to our time period on 9/10/01 - that date is mentioned specifically. I think the book itself had enough going for it that the reference to 9/11 was unnecessary.

Recommended for: teens
Red Flags: racial slurs, violence toward people of color
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

Read-Alikes: [b:Kindred|60931|Kindred|Octavia E. Butler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1339423248s/60931.jpg|1049657], [b:The Freedom Maze|11013228|The Freedom Maze|Delia Sherman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1315239826s/11013228.jpg|15932304]

I picked this novel up from my local library in the YA section after it caught my attention. After reading the synopsis, I was excited because I really enjoyed Kindred. This book was nothing like like it! That comparison should not have been made!! I felt the novel was lacking and missing something important to make it flow better. It dragged, and many times I put it down. IT was a poor attempt at time travel, but unfortunately, I have read better.

This book started out slow to me and didn't interest me much for the first half. I continued reading it because I'd bought it and it wasn't bad, just slow. However, once it got to the historical portion of the book it really became interesting to me. I got more invested in the characters and the story. The pace picked up and it became a thoroughly enjoyable book.

I really enjoyed A Wish After Midnight! I’m a huge fan of time travel, so when looking through Zetta Elliott’s work this title stood out for my first foray into her stories. Elliott brings the reader into not one but two worlds, first Gemma’s 2000 Brooklyn and then the 1863 Brooklyn she travels to. Both are such incredibly detailed settings, it’s easy to imagine the worlds in which Gemma exists. In modern Brooklyn, we are drawn into the life of an incredible girl who is curious and creative in the midst of chaos around her. I especially loved how detailed her family life was, and found it easy to empathize with Gemma in every situation.

When the book went from 2000 back to 1863, I was almost disappointed to leave the story Elliott had created. However, the same picturesque storytelling from part 1 carried seamlessly to part 2 and 1863 was just as easy to step into and imagine. Choosing just a couple of characters and places to flesh out the world works to Elliott’s advantage, giving clear examples and both similarities and differences between the two worlds Gemma visits.

I was also unfamiliar with the history of the Civil War era in Brooklyn, so learning just the beginnings of that chaos was incredibly valuable. My main complaint, I think, is that I felt Judah could have been more fleshed out. I’m looking forward to reading The Door at the Crossroads, as by the description it seems more Judah forward.

The characterization of all the characters is well done, and more realistic than other speculative fiction with teens as main characters that I have read in the past. Overall, I would highly recommend this book and I will be reading more of Zetta Elliott’s work to explore of her amazing story telling and world building. This is on my list of recommendations for library patrons who like time travel or fantasy when I’m doing readers advisory!

Genna is the "good one" in a pack of siblings living with their single mother in a Ghetto in Brooklyn. Her brother just got arrested for drug dealing, her mother seems to be slowly alienating her sister by her worried and critical ways, and Genna does well in school and gets picked on for not being "black" enough.

Judah, a Rastafarian whose dream it is to live in Africa, takes notice of her and begins a relationship.

But then one day in the garden where Genna goes for refuge, something strange happens and she is sent back in time to the Civil War Era.

Treated not much better than a slave, she is witness to racial tensions in the North. When Judah joins her later with his own horrific story, Genna must hold true to her beliefs about people, race, and prejudice.

Genna was a wonderful, real character to read. She doesn't always make the right choices and lacks understanding based on experience.

The details of the Civil War period, as well as the interactions of the characters totally made me think, learn, and expand my understanding of the kind of challenges ex slaves faced in the North (labor disputes with Irish immigrants).

The speculative element in this one was superficial, just a mechanism never explained as to how or why Judah or Genna went back in time. The romance is also superficial, with hardly any build up and the tension provided more in the differing ways Judah and Genna view whites than their views of eachother.

The true meat of this story is the race relations, and for that reason alone, this book is worth reading. As it plays down some of the most disturbing elements of slavery, while still portraying shocking treatment, I'd put it in the hands of my daughters when they were middle school aged.

This Book's Rood Designation Rating: Turkish coffee, black, for the bitter, bitter, bracing and intense flavor of Genna's troubles.

what the fuck was that ending

DNF

Guys check out this cover, is it not wonderfully attractive? :D I know they say don't judge a book by it's cover but a nice one definitely doesn't hurt.

Anyways! This is a YA time travel story in the same vein as Octavia Butler's Kindred. It's tight first person POV which really only works when you've got a good protagonist to carry it. Luckily this does! I really liked Genna and got invested in both her lives: present and past. I was a bit sad at each changeover actually, Elliott does such a good job with her world building and characters that I was really into both stories she told. I like how the time travel aspect gives you a chance to see how racialization is an ongoing process, it's much easier to understand why Genna's mother dislikes her baby sitting for Hannah when you see what a similar nanny situation means for her in 1863. 4 stars