Another fan's response!

A great response to IN THE NICK OF TIME from a reader on Goodreads.com. Made me smile. Thank you reader!

"Thanks so much goodreads for this book I won! It was fantastic. My only complaint was it was a bit short for me at 100 pages and I wanted it to last a bit longer but it was truly great. You could read this in one sitting easily because it's that interesting. Andy Mackpeace, a 13 year old boy is upset when his eccentric grandmother passes away. While going through her stuff he finds magical incense sticks that when lit takes him to another time period. He travels to the 18th century to Boston and then soon after his return he then with his two best friends goes to the 19 century to Georgia. Soon they realize they do not have the incense stick to get them back home. Together they use their 21 century knowledge to get them back home. Friendships are tested through this journey and a young boy comes into his own while facing some of the most horrific historical moments of America's past. Really loved this book and want to read the sequel now!"

Yes, the sequel, THE TIME OF HIS LIFE is available in book form from Createspace or Amazon (Kindle too), and the various e-versions are on Smashwords.com 

A Surprise Review on Amazon

A great review suddenly appeared on Amazon regarding my time travel novel IN THE NICK OF TIME. Mahalo! It was a nice surprise! 

"Andy's a strong, brave kid. I like him, and I kept turning the pages of In the Nick of Time until the book was done. The adventures Andy has in this book could only happen to someone who's brave enough to risk not knowing all the answers. He's also a boy whose grandmother isn't like other grandmothers. Yay for Andy, and for J. Lee Graham! Is there a sequel out there somewhere?"

Yes, Reviewer, there is! It's called THE TIME OF HIS LIFE. 

Middle Grade Mania Blog and a call to other MG Authors!

I just joined the Middle Grade Mania Blog, and it is a brilliant source of all things Middle Grade (and then some!) What an excellent place to browse and interact. I love talking about my Time Travel MG novels IN THE NICK OF TIME and THE TIME OF HIS LIFE, but enough about me! 

Any writer of MG who wants to be interviewed by me, feel free to contact me! It would be a pleasure!

Peace, 
J. Lee Graham

A book review for IN THE NICK OF TIME

Thank you Susan from her blog timetraveltimestwo where she wrote a review of my time travel novel. This was such a surprise and I was extremely flattered. Mahalo!

In The Nick of Time

Posted on December 10, 2012 

In the Nick of Time, J. Lee Graham (2008, 99 pages), is a straightforward time travel tale in which three 13-year-old kids–Andy, Roger, and Miranda–go to a plantation in Georgia in 1858 where slaves are used. The story is given added drama because Roger is African-American, and the other two are white, and so only Roger finds himself a slave. As in a YA time travel book I admired, Trapped Between the Lash and the Gun by Arvella Whitmore, the stakes are very high as the kids are stuck in slave times until they can figure out how to return to their present.

Andy’s aunt, with whom he was very close, dies at the beginning of the story. She was a mystical personality and believed she could communicate with the dead. She had been a world traveler and picked up spiritual souvenirs from all over the world. The time travel starts when Andy’s family is cleaning out her house and Andy finds some mysterious incense that had been hers. He lights it and is transported back to the scene of the Boston Massacre of 1770. This foray into the past is brief and is not really connected to the main time travel in the story. I think the only reason for this trip in the narrative is to show what is needed to return to the present. Andy is able to return home when he relights the incense stick.

Not knowing where it will take them, Andy invites Roger to go on an adventure via another incense stick. He figures they can just relight the incense to return home. But this time he drops the incense stick just as they are leaving his bedroom. They have lost their return ticket! Miranda wasn’t invited, but happens upon the scene and inhales some of the incense smoke, so is also whisked away. The three find themselves on the plantation.

Roger finds he is part of a family of slaves living in a shack, while Andy and Miranda live in the fancy house of the owners of the plantation. Roger must do the back-breaking work of picking crops and is treated horribly by the white overseer of the plantation. Meanwhile, Andy and Miranda come to believe if they can find the herb that smells like the incense and they burn it, they will be able to return home. They begin a desperate search to find the mystery herb.

I admire the author for taking on such an important topic as slavery. The storyline would be easy enough for younger middle grade readers to follow, but because Graham does not shy away from the ugliest aspects of slavery, including whippings and even a hanging, a teacher or parent would have to decide if their children were ready to emotionally deal with this subject matter even if they were able to read the book. Once the kids arrived at  the plantation, I appreciated that the story kept a clear focus on how awful and unfair slavery was. I also liked how the story was not merely a time travel adventure, but also a tale of friendship, and how much can be forgiven in friendship.

In the Nick of Time is not to be confused with Nick of Time by Ted Bell which is also a  time travel story, or with the numerous other books of the same title!

TIME TRAVEL MART and my novels

I contacted the Time Travel Mart in Los Angeles and donated my two novels to their Library. Both IN THE NICK OF TIME and THE TIME OF HIS LIFE are in the post and on their way. I love supporting Literacy!

Some great blogs for Readers.

I found a great new blog: http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/ devoted to books and characters and great book reviews as well. Mostly children's books too, I might add, YA and MG.

There is also another blog online devoted mainly to Time Travel novels, and I like her enthusiasm and excitement when she discusses them. Try http://timetraveltimestwo.wordpress.com/

Thank you!

J. Lee Graham

Healing and IN THE NICK OF TIME

So many people have commented on the healing quality of IN THE NICK OF TIME. While my intent was to tell a terrific time travel novel with rich characters who exhibit various emotional responses to the surroundings and events that occur to them, there seems to be, unconsciously, a thin veil of healing in the pages. Forgiveness is a common theme I feel drawn to as well; again, it seems to reveal itself in unplanned ways!

The adventures of Andy Mackpeace (and his friends Roger and Miranda) are not easily handled. Choices are made at times that are not always for the best. I like the idea of characters, especially Andy, transforming from his mistakes.

In IN THE NICK OF TIME, the maturing process happens to all three characters, their own sense of empowerment is strengthened, and as a result, their sense of community and belonging is deepened.

That's the powerful alchemic response called 'healing'.

Grandma Geri would have been proud. :)

THANK YOU ICS!

The International Community School in Avondale Estates invited me to give a talk to all the 4th graders and then read from my novel IN THE NICK OF TIME. I had a blast! A big MAHALO! (Thank you in Hawaiian) to Lori the Librarian, and all the 4th grade teachers there, and especially to all the 4th graders themselves!

Another fan and her comment!

A great new quote from a recent fan for IN THE NICK OF TIME. She writes:

"J. Lee Graham has such a gift at portraying the teenage emotions and thoughts and telling a really good story."

Thank you Sofia!

A Video Promo For IN THE NICK OF TIME

A brief fun video I made demonstrating the magical power of those ingenious Grandma Geri Incense sticks! :) Enjoy.

A wonderful Comment

A fan of IN THE NICK OF TIME from a town in Washington State emailed me this wonderful comment:

Jeff Graham's gift for creating vital, dynamic and sympathetic characters draws the reader in from the very first page. His stories weave, spin and turn in creative, unexpected ways that call one to contemplate new ways of looking at the world, all the while pointing to what is meaningful and important, authentic and real to our tender human condition. His writings are compelling to readers of young age, and to older readers who are young at heart.

Pocomoke Middle School

Congratulations to Pocomoke Middle School in Maryland for being recognised for their "Soar to Success" reading intervention program! Kudos to the teachers and to Ms. Caroline Bloxom. I heard about this while I was away.

The power of reading can never be underestimated.

All you teachers: keep up the diligence!

Peace.