The Accidental Time Traveller

One snowy morning in Peebles, just weeks before Christmas, Saul sets off for the nearby corner shop. On his way, he hears the screech of tyres, followed by the screams of a young girl as she falls at his feet in panic. She’s dressed strangely, in a long dress and ruffled collar, and talks in an old-fashioned, formal way. Her name is Agatha and – Saul soon discovers – she’s been catapulted accidentally from a different time, two hundred years ago, to the present. He agrees to help her, hiding her in a secret den that only his best mates know about. Simultaneously, he continues with his own life: supporting his harassed mum with the newborn twins, dodging the secondary-school bully, Crow – and dreaming of a BMX bike for Christmas. As he figures out ways of returning Agatha to her past, he learns about life in the 1800s – so much so that he is inspired to enter the Scottish Borders young historian of the year competition.

This is a well-structured time-slip story that cleverly keeps its momentum and manages, largely through the sympathetic character of Saul, to draw the reader in. At the beginning of the story, he’s just an ordinary twelve-year old. He’s neither gifted nor especially popular. He’s fearful of Crow and frustrated that home life is now centred on the twins. Yet he’s friendly, generous and principled – traits that help him to grow in maturity and wisdom as his friendship with Agatha develops.

The ever-present landscape of snow and slush, thick fog and dark winter skies – and Christmas warmth – adds atmosphere to this enjoyable story.