Leo never imagined that time travel might really be possible, or that the objects in H. G. Wells’ science fiction novels might actually exist. But then a miniature time machine appears in Leo’s bedroom, and he recognizes one of the tiny riders: himself! His search for the time machine and his fate leads him to the New-York Circulating Material Repository, a magical library that lends out objects instead of books. Hidden away in the Repository basement is the Wells Bequest, a secret collection of powerful objects straight out of classic science fiction novels: robots, rockets, submarines, a shrink ray—and one very famous time machine. And when Leo’s adventure of a lifetime suddenly turns deadly, he must attempt a journey to 1895 to warn real-life scientist Nikola Tesla about a dangerous invention. A race for time is on!

 

Polly Shulman (www.pollyshulman.com) is also the author of The Grimm Legacy (a Bank Street Best Book and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Finalist) and Enthusiasm. She has written for The New York Times, Discover, Newsday, Salon, Slate, Scientific American, Archaeology, and The Village Voice, among others, and edits news stories for Science magazine. She is an alumna of Yale University, where she majored in math. She grew up in New York City, where she lives with her husband and their parakeet.