Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 08/01/2022 In a determined exploration of intersectional identities and self-understanding, seventh-grader David grabs the chance to travel back in time—not only in hopes of repairing a rift in a closer-than-ordinary friendship with classmate Antoine, but to learn more about his birth parents. Unfortunately, Juanita, his guide, is a spirit of the dead with annoying habits and unfinished business of her own, and David's repeated efforts to fix things only seems to make them worse. Oshiro plays much of this as comedy, but it’s David’s growing frustration and confusion that will stand out most sharply for readers—that, and perhaps how lucky he is both in his loving adoptive parents (one Japanese American, the other of Mexican and Brazilian descent), who gladly pitch in to help him investigate his Latinx background and the circumstances of his closed adoption, and in steady Antoine. It’s David’s belated understanding that real change is based not on past choices but future ones that fuels a memorably heady sense of possibility at the upbeat close. A fresh, strong workout for the well-used Groundhog Day premise. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 10/01/2022 Gr 4–7—After a disastrous start to middle school, a talking dog offers David Bravo the chance to go back in time to fix the moment where it all went wrong—if only David could pinpoint where that moment was. Was it the school assignment about his culture and where he comes from? Or an unfortunate food poisoning incident that ruins his best friend's chance at making varsity cross-country? David keeps reliving certain moments up and down his time line, but instead of fixing things, he just keeps making them worse. Along the way, David must confront his feelings about his identity as a transracial adoptee (his mom is Japanese American and his dad is Mexican-Brazilian-American, his biological parents were Latinx, but the adoption was closed) and the true nature of his feelings for his best friend Antoine. Through his discussions with Fea, his "non-corporeal time line guide" (who, in addition to appearing as a dog, also shows up as a mosquito, giraffe, and several other animals to great comedic effect) and her backstory, he learns that sometimes it's not past decisions, but future ones that matter most. VERDICT A funny and unexpected twist on the time loop novel with moving and memorable results.—Jennifer Rothschild - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.