Hmmm… There is a chance now and again of this book offering great fun, but then it shoots itself in the foot, and uses the titular time machine, which sends whoever uses it – like its inventor's neighbour, young Sunil – back into the past. And even if he goes with the inventor and a kiwi bird (don't ask) they invariably get split up, allowing Sunil to meet famous people alone, and allowing us to have a history lesson. Here we jump most illogically from Rosa Parks to, well, someone in Mongolia, to Henry VIII's daughter Elizabeth. None got to foresee their destiny, is the link here, but who ever does? Sunil for one is reasonable in guiding us through the footnotes that deliver the education, but as I said the entertainment (even if very mundanely about a fluffed maths test) had more potential.

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I read this book in one go and really enjoyed it. This is my first book in this fun and educational series and it left me wanting more!

Before this turned into a fun and educational historical adventure, we get a glimpse of Sunil at school where he’s having trouble and even starts crying during a math test. He’s so affraid of anyone noticing that he runs out off the classroom and hides in a toilet stall. With the excuse of not feeling well, he’s sent home, feeling awful for lying.. His dad is so nice to him which makes him feel even more guilty and he is so disappointed that he isn’t allowed to go to cricket practice. When his aunt Alex is babysitting him that evening, he decides to sneak into her house (next door) when she’s distracted and use her time machine. Such a cool machine that knows fun facts and is powered by boredom! He just wants to go back to earlier that day and hide the math tests but he has to hurry and uses it when there’s an error. He not only ends up in the wrong time (meeting his first really cool person!!) but he breaks the machine. Alex is very upset but they do end up traveling far back in time several times, to fix it and meet more awesome historical figures when they were younger and learn a lot and have fun along the way. Some nice moral lessons are included too, leading up to a great ending.