Once Was a Time
by Leila Sales (Author)
Booktalk: The BIG Picture
In the war-ravaged England of 1940, Charlotte Bromley is sure of only one thing: Kitty McLaughlin is her best friend in the whole world. But when Charlotte’s scientist father makes an astonishing discovery that the Germans will covet for themselves, Charlotte is faced with an impossible choice between danger and safety. Should she remain with her friend or journey to another time and place? Her split-second decision has huge consequences, and when she finds herself alone in the world, unsure of Kitty’s fate, she knows that somehow, some way, she must find her way back to her friend.
#kidlit Writing Lesson: the small details
It felt like my intestines were going to come spewing out of my mouth. Dad hadn’t warned me about this part of time travel.
Because Dad has never done it. So he didn’t know.
When my retching finally slowed down, I inhaled a deep breath. Air. So I wasn’t in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
That was something at least.
I opened my eyes. I was lying on grass. It was hot.
That was as much as I could get right now.
After all of her father’s time travel talk, Charlotte realizes that she is the first one in her family to actually experience it.
It felt like my intestines were going to come spewing out of my mouth. Dad hadn’t warned me about this part of time travel.
Because Dad has never done it. So he didn’t know.
As her travel sickness subsides, Charlotte’s focus slowly moves outward.
When my retching finally slowed down, I inhaled a deep breath. Air. So I wasn’t in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
That was something at least.
I opened my eyes. I was lying on grass. It was hot.
That was as much as I could get right now.
The main character’s time travel experience begins with her physical reaction. Only then does it move outward and begin to describe her new world.
Copyright © 2016 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.