The Yearbook by Carol Masicola

Imagine cleaning out a small room in the library in your school…then falling asleep looking through an old yearbook you found…and waking up in a completely different year.  You wander out of the library to find a school dance going on in the gym, full of people that you don’t know.  These people talk differently, dress differently, and act differently…and oh, it’s also 1924.

And then the realization dawns on you…hey, these people are awfully familiar.  Who could they be?  Wait a minute…aren’t these the people that you just saw in the yearbook I was looking through?  So you figure that you don’t have anything to lose, and you start to mingle with these teenagers and come to realize that you actually get along with them…and much better than anyone from your time.

So when you meet Peter, a boy at the dance that you realize you like, you start wondering what it would be like to stay in this time, instead of going back to your own.

This is what Lola goes through on one afternoon when she offers to help clean up a ruined room in the school library.  While trying to get away from a social worker, she stumbles in and is asked to clean up, and, figuring it will keep her away from the person following her, she agrees to help out.  From there, things start happening that she cannot explain…but the life she discovers in 1924 is so much better than the life she has now: full of social workers, foster parents, group homes, and no family.  She feels like she belongs in 1924.  So when she finds herself back in her own time, she tries to learn everything she can about the time she had visited – including how she can get back there.

For me, this was one of those books that I had to let myself enjoy.  When I first started reading it, I found myself unable to appreciate Lola’s character and her situation…instead finding her to be a bit obnoxious and over the top, but as the story continued on, I found myself enjoying reading about her and the weirdness that she’s going through.

One thing that did strike me as different and quite enjoyable about this book is the fact that it is open for interpretation from the reader.  Since Lola’s mother suffered from schizophrenia, we, as the readers, are left with the question of whether or not Lola is actually visiting 1924, or if she might be dealing with the same types of hallucinations that her mother had gone through.  I personally love a book that makes me think, and gives me something to ponder over.  It makes the experience enriching and enjoyable.  While parts of this are confusing and leave you wondering, “wait, what?” the book itself is one of those different books that will stick with you for a long time!

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.