In the City of Time (In the City of Time #1)

A group of teens ricochet through time and space to rewrite the past in this labyrinthine time travel adventure by Clare, set in the same world as the Ink, Iron, and Glass duology. In 2034, white Riley, 17, and her Indian American–cued boyfriend Jaideep, both scientific prodigies living in an “artificial pocket universe” resembling Boston, have devised a method to travel back in time and prevent the mysterious cataclysm that rendered Earth uninhabitable. But instead of transporting the duo to the 19th century, their initial effort accidentally plucks white trans engineer Willa Marconi, 17 and the future inventor of wireless communication, out of her 1891 timeline, and drops them all into a strange, empty city in an unknown year. The teens’ appearance prompts suspicion within the Continuity Agency, omnipotent custodians of all time and space, and the trio must dodge a frightening android cop while attempting to return Willa to her proper era and complete the original mission. Riley and Willa’s distinct alternating perspectives and the group’s varied interpersonal challenges, such as Riley and Jaideep’s hesitation to reveal their polyamorous relationship to Willa, even as Riley’s attraction to her grows, provide a distinctly human aspect to this splashy futuristic volume. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Azantian, Azantian Literary. (Nov.)