Clashing teenage twins Arky and Iris have one thing in common: an ancient musical instrument left to them by their mother. When Iris plays the strangely curved woodwind, the trouble begins; Arky’s friend, Matt, the school’s star quarterback, disappears.
Transported to 1907 and the Carlisle Indian School, Matt is forced to play football for Coach Pop Warner as the Carlisle “Redmen” revolutionize Ivy League football. Matt’s struggle to “play his way home” is complicated when he falls in love with an Indian girl.
Meanwhile, Arky and Iris discover a cache of secrets that might bring Matt back and lead to the ultimate rescue: their mother, trapped in the past.
Blowback ’07 ignites a century-spanning trilogy. Blowback ’63 and Blowback ’94 will send Arky and Iris to the illuminating past and transform them in ways they never imagined. After all, as their mother once cautioned, “Every road to the future winds through the past.”
In this time-bending first novel in a planned trilogy, Meehl (Suck It up and Die) creates a fascinating dichotomy between past and present. North High junior Arky Jongler-Jinks, a sharp-witted cross-country runner, is best friends with his high school’s star quarterback, Matt Grinnell, and defensive back, Danny Bender. Arky’s twin sister, Iris, prefers making music—especially playing an unusual antique English horn that her mother left to her in secret, before vanishing—to sports and partying. The extent of the woodwind’s powers are revealed when Iris’s playing accidentally sends Matt back to the year 1907. Sports, music, and science collide as Iris and Arky attempt to retrieve Matt while wondering if their mother could be found, too. Meanwhile, Matt must adjust to his new century (and playing for the Carlisle Indian School’s football team, coached by Pop Warner) and figure out a way to get back to “hometime.” With propulsive pacing and an entertaining mix of witticisms, historical lessons, romance, and poignant moments, Meehl’s SF adventure hits all the right notes. Believable characters infuse energy into each scene—readers will eagerly await future installments. Ages 12–up. (BookLife)
