Hourglass by Myra McEntire

GoodReads
390 pages, YA Supernatural (Time Travel)
Hourglass #1

Synopsis

One hour to rewrite the past . . . 

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn't there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents' death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She's tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson's willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may also change her past.

Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he's around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

My 2 cents

I LOVED this book!!!  I already did my list for my favorites read in 2012 earlier in the week, and this should have been on it!  One of the better YA stories I've read lately!

I generally love time travel books.  They always promise to be interesting.  This one had a whole new concept on time travel:  certain people are born with a supernatural power of time traveling in their genes.  Some can travel to the past, and some to the future, but no one can travel both.

I really loved Emerson.  She is one tough cookie.  Her parents died in a bus accident while they were on vacation, and her much older brother and his wife take care of her.  Luckily, they both love her a lot.  She also has a great best friend, although we didn't see much of her friend in this book.  Emerson has spent most of her teenage years either institutionalized, or doped up on meds for seeing "hallucinations."  She has managed to find some sort of normal in the past year, but things start getting worse.  

Then her brother finds Michael Weaver, who guarantees he can help her.  And the story really takes off from there! I don't want to give anything away, but Michael is "special" too!  I was really frustrated with Michael most of the time.  I liked his best friend, Kaleb much better.  I also could spot the villians in the story a mile away!  

The story line was awesome, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!  This was a great sci-fi tale worth reading!   5 stars!