Time travelers are all around us. Getting ahold of a time twister, Alex, Jonathan, and Zoe leave earth and start the search for a planet they could live on. Lots happen before that and Jonathan isn't going to be happy how he traveled. It is opened ended. Did they find the planet? Did they return home?

Alex's asides are a hoot. I loved how he starts the journal. I laughed out loud. I find it a hoot. Alex and Jonathan are a riot. Just like some of the kids I know that age. I hope there is a book 4 so I know the answers to my questions. ( )

Asch, F. (2008). Time Twister, Journal #3 of a Cardboard Genius; Canada: Kids Can Press.

What are the science fiction elements of the story?

Frank Asch’s Time Twister is a light-hearted and humorous sci-fi adventure story for kids. It has classic science fiction elements with a corky twist—a boy genius (or at least a boy who professes genius), a spaceship made from cardboard boxes, a working time machine, visitors from the future, and a blackhole that threatens to swallow up the galaxy.

How has the author made the story believable?

The author has not made the story believable in the sense that readers will actually think that a spaceship could be made from material like cardboard, or that the main character, Alex, could really make a gadget that produces a galaxy-swallowing blackhole; but he has certainly succeeded in presenting a wacky and amusing science fiction adventure story that celebrates and encourages imagination, creativity, and the human impulse to explore other worlds.

Is the story logical and consistent within the framework established by the author? Explain why or why not.

The story is definitely logical and consistent within the author’s framework. In the world created by the author, a mere child who professes to be the “smartest human being on earth,” has the ability to create the most grandiose inventions of space and time travel, out of every-day materials like cardboard.

Is the plot original and ingenious? What elements are particularly original?

Although the notions of space and time travel are familiar, the plot of Time Twister is highly original and imaginative. One unique element occurs when Alex, the main character, accidentally turns his pesky younger brother into a baby.

Is there a universal truth underlying the metaphor of the fantasy? What universal truth does the fantasy convey?

I think the “universal truth” that underlies the story is found in its obvious promotion of imaginativeness. In other words, by implication, the outlandish nature of the story itself tells kids (who I think for the most part will understand its fanciful style), “it’s okay to stretch your imaginations…it is good to use your minds to create and dream, wonder, explore…”
So there is “universal truth” in the sense that the book promotes the truth that it is good for children to explore ideas and to expand their minds, to “reach for the stars,” so to speak, when it involves a child’s potential to be creative.

How does the story compare with other books of the same kind or by the same author?

Time Twister is very much like Asch’s other books, Star Jumper and Gravity Buster, where a mere kid makes use of ordinary household materials like cardboard, duck tape, goggles, etc. to create incredible technological gadgets.