We Can Fix It!: A Time Travel Memoir

Gr 10 Up—Fink uses a time machine to jump back to the sexy and uncomfortable parts of her teenage and young adult years, voyeuristically reliving the experimentation with key people in her life and trying to redirect her past self from bad decisions, stupid people, and embarrassing moments. The book starts without introduction, and the storytelling is largely haphazard, mimicking the unplanned and reactionary direction of the protagonist's actions. Toward the end of the book, the character of Jess states that "fart humor transcends age," and while the book purports to be about the present Jess trying to prevent her younger selves from making immature choices, the book revels in juvenilia. In part, this is because of the honest realization that we are our mistakes as well as our triumphs, but also because the good times that Jess recounts are mostly the dumb, crude things that make for amusing anecdotes among friends. The question is whether her cavalier depiction of sexuality and YouTube-worthy late night stunts with her friends is charming or whether one would find such tales off-putting. Her offbeat tone and self-awareness convey something similar to the mad rush of oversharing on an unexpected first date; some people will surely push away from the table and elect to call it a night, but the honesty, whimsy, and force of personality of the storyteller are undeniable.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH