Future Me Saves the World (And Ruins My Life) by Leah Cypess

 

FUTURE ME SAVES THE WORLD (AND RUINS MY LIFE)

by Leah Cypess

Aladdin

Middle Grade Science Fiction  /  Graphic Novel

192 pages

ages 8 to 12

In this hilarious illustrated middle grade novel in the vein of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Matt Sprouts and the Curse of the Ten Broken Toes, a boy’s time-travelling older self gives him an impossible convince his class to be nice to their substitute teacher…or risk the fate of the world.

Ethan seems like a normal ten-year-old, but he has a secret. It’s not that he’s the one who accidentally filled the sunblock container with glue last summer or that he cracked the screen on his sister’s phone and blamed it on their baby brother. (Those things may have happened, but they’ve got nothing on this.) No, Ethan’s secret is that he knows time travel is real—because his future self keeps coming back to visit him.

Lucky Ethan, right?

Wrong. Because when Ethan’s future self shows up, he tends to bring bad news, and he’s kind of bossy. (Not to mention he’s always wearing super weird clothes.) This time around, he’s asking Ethan to do one simple make sure today’s substitute teacher doesn’t quit, or else one day she’ll become an evil dictator who will destroy the planet. But his future self clearly forgot what fourth grade is like, because if there’s one thing Ethan’s class is great at (other than losing their homework), it’s tormenting substitute teachers…

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MY TIDBITS

With humor, a little chaos, and even tension, middle school and time travel mix in an unexpected and exciting way.

Ethan's life isn't exactly normal...not that anyone knows that. He's been visited several times by his future self to change little things here and there to make the future better. At least, that's what his very-oddly-dressed-and-way-too-serious-future-self always insists. So, when future him time travels back, once again, with another task, Ethan isn't really surprised, but this time, his future self is expecting the impossible. Ethan is supposed to make his up-coming substitute teacher not hate teaching, so she doesn't end up forming an army and destroying the world later. Ethan not only has no clue how he's going to get everyone in his class to be nice to her and not cause complete chaos, but he's not even sure he believes his future self enough to really try. Worse yet, his future self claims he lost contact with Ethan's very best friend long ago and doesn't even care. Add that his future self has, obviously, totally forgot what 4th grade is like, and Ethan is totally out of his depth and doesn't know how to handle any of it.

Middle school drama hits full on with quite a bit of humor and all sorts of concerns, which almost every person of this age group faces in some form or another. And it does it with a nice dose of reality (well at least, in that direction). While Ethan's future and much older self expects him to do certain things, Ethan is well aware that the plan won't work. For example, Ethan is only one kid in an entire classroom, whose students always give substitutes a hard time. So, getting them to behave differently on the first day isn't going to happen. There's also a understandable amount of distrust Ethan has concerning his future self. It's not extreme, but there's enough there to make it believable. Then, there's the entire emotional trip as Ethan learns that his future self could care less about his best friend...and doesn't seem to even remember why that relationship would be important, anyway. That most middle graders loose their friends after a couple years or so isn't really a topic I've seen hit quite in this way. The author does find a good way to round it back in to make a nice read, but the Ethan's reaction put a nice touch on the friendship theme while sliding in a painful reality.

The read flows well and is written for the lower end of the middle grade audience. There's a larger font and spacing for easy reading, and illustrations are nicely scattered in between. The chapters are kept relatively short, and the plot holds a quick pacing without too much time spent on depth. It creates a fun and easy read. The only thing that caught me a little off guard was that it feels like a later book in a series, since Ethan mentions earlier visits from his future-self several times. So, it feels like something is missing, especially since these earlier visits obviously molded Ethan's current view of his future self. 

It's a fun read for those who enjoy quirky situations, humor, fun characters, and a touch of light scifi on the side.

And here she is...

Leah Cypess is the author of Thornwood, Glass Slippers, and The Piper’s Promise, the first three books in the Sisters Ever After series, as well as Future Me Saves the World (and Ruins My Life). She lives in the kingdom of Silver Spring, Maryland, with her family. Visit her at LeahCypess.com and follow her on X @LeahCypess.