A Handful of Time is the story of a young girl struggling with the separation of her parents and her own relationship with them. The book takes place during summer break, and the girl is staying with her cousins, aunts, and uncles at the family cabin. She is excluded by the cousins and spends a lot of time alone in the family's large vacation property. Soon she finds a small clock that seems to have stopped, and it becomes a mysterious key to her mother's past. The girl spends her summer vacation learning about her mother through somewhat magical means.
AGE RANGE INTERMEDIATE
THEMES
Family
Time Travel
Divorce
Forest
Summer
OVERALL RATING 9/10
A Handful of time, one of the very few fantasy books by Kit Pearson, is really great. I have read the books of many authors who write wonderful and realistic non-magical books, but their fantasy books lack feeling. Kit Pearson manages to have magical aspects at the same time as having a story and characters that feel real.
PROS
Good child’s perspective
Heartfelt
Beautiful
Deals well with divorce
CONS
The side characters aren't very multi-dimensional