Yay for YA: Time Snatchers

It is always my goal to be as objective as possible with reviews.  Unfortunately, I am only human, with likes and dislikes, and a perception that is sometimes colored by preconceptions.  Time Snatchers by Richard Ungar was a book that really suffered from a case of "It's not you, it's me."  Let me tell you about it.

Statistics
Checkouts: Not owned by the library
Typical reader: Upper elementary/middle school boys
Source: I found an Advance Reader's Copy (ARC) at Snowbound Books.  The ARC was free and I am not paid for this review.

Synopsis: Caleb is a time snatcher working for Uncle, the man who raised him and several other children to steal precious items through time travel.  There's rivalry, a confused love interest, and a meeting that could change Caleb's life.

My Goodreads rating: 3 stars

When I picked up the ARC of this book, I thought that I had found something to recommend to my students who love the Artemis Fowl series.  The cover art suggested a similar genre.  Time-traveling teenaged thieves?  It sounds like it could be comparable.

It isn't.  Caleb is nowhere near as intelligent and cunning as Artemis.  That really disappointed me.  Don't get me wrong, Caleb is witty, but he's not a scheming, evil prodigy.  On the other hand, his humanity could appeal to many readers.  He's a nice kid.  His long-time snatch partner, Abbie, confuses him as he tries to figure out if they like each other as more than just friends.

While the novel gets right into the time traveling and snatching, I really didn't feel like the action got going until about 100 pages in.  And then it sometimes petered out.  This isn't a page-turner.  But, it's pleasing in the quality of writing and descriptiveness.

In sum, your mileage may vary.  I probably had too many expectations going into this book.  It really isn't bad, but it didn't wow me either.  I'll probably pass it on to one of my sixth grade boys that I think might be interested, and see what he thinks.  (Hopefully he passes it on to classmates, so I can get more feedback, too.)