Her transition to her new life is awkward but realistic, and the focus of this charming novel is always on friendship and loyalty. Lottie's first-person account has a lighthearted tone, with lots of dialogue and details contrasting childhood in wartime England with modern-day America. Lottie adjusts to a new school and life with a foster family, when she finds a postcard from Kitty addressed to her and stuck in a library book, raising her hopes that her friend is still somewhere to be found. The passage of three years confirms her father's hypothesis that there is no returning to her own time. She's befriended by a helpful librarian and a boy her own age named Jake. Lottie sees a shimmering portal and leaps through just as shots are fired, landing in a small Wisconsin town in 2013. The girls are kidnapped and taken to a cellar where Germans are trying to coerce Lottie's father into revealing his research. Lottie's scientist father researches time travel, work that's governed by the Official Secrets Act and coveted by the Nazis. In 1940, food rationing and fear of bombs are the backdrop for best friends Lottie and Kitty, who care more about anagrams and playing make-believe than the war. The friendship of two 10-year-old English girls is tested when one travels through a portal to the future. Unforgettable.' -Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan But at its heart, Leila Sales's dazzling tale is about a friendship so powerful that nothing-not even time itself-can break its bonds. 'Once Was a Time has it all: suspense, humor, an intrepid heroine, and an intriguing take on time travel.

heart-wrenching and beautiful and totally unexpected.'- Geek Dad 'A very beautiful story about the power of friendship.'-India Winslow, children's bookseller, Brookline Booksmith will appeal to fans of When You Reach Me and A Wrinkle in Time.'-School Library Journal

'Lottie's fortitude and resolve make her an admirable and sympathetic protagonist.'-Publishers Weekly

Once Was a Time by Leila Sales