cover image Me, Myself and I

Me, Myself and I

Jane Louise Curry, Patricia Ed. Curry. Margaret K. McElderry Books, $16 (184pp) ISBN 978-0-689-50429-7

Precocious whiz kid J.J. Russell knows he's a lucky guy. At 16, he's the only graduate student selected to work as research assistant for the brilliant Professor Poplov. What's more, J.J. is well on his way to inventing a computer program chip that will make him a fortune. And he's been going out with gorgeous, blonde Polly for four blissful years. But then slick Max Sharp inventsand sellsa chip that's nearly identical to J.J.'s. And on the very same day, J.J. discovers that Polly has been dating Max on the sly. Broken-hearted, J.J. goes to the lab to drown his sorrows in work. There he stumbles on Professor Poplov's most secret inventiona machine that can send people back in time. Impulsively, J.J. sends himself into the past and comes face to face with Jacko and Mutt, his 12- and eight-year-old selves, respectively. J.J., Jacko and Mutt team up to solve a mystery and make some big changes in their shared future: bad guys are disposed of and good guys get their reward. J.J.'s good-natured, wisecracking narration unravels the complicated plot with ease and keeps this story moving at a rapid clip. Lots of fun. Ages 12-up. (October)