Review of Time for PSyQ

[MandyGardner]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Time for PSyQ" by Marti Ward.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Review for Time for PSyQ, by Marti Ward

Time for PSyQ is the first of a series of books written for middle-grade readers. Focused on the adventures of the main character Airlie, her cat, Sooty, plus her friends and their pets, this story begins with a pet theft. As she attempts to help solve the crime, Airlie discovers that she has a mysterious ability to review events in extreme detail in her mind’s eye. Her talents attract the local police, who recruit her into a specialised camp for other kids and their pets that show special extrasensory abilities.

Airlie is an extremely gifted young person, whose mind is constantly at work analysing reality on the level of quantum physics, which the police camp counsellors are teaching in relevance to solving crimes. She is the first at camp to learn to connect her consciousness to that of her cat, Sooty, and to other campers and their pets. This developing ability helps the kids solve a kidnapping while providing the special police force with vital information about potential extrasensory skills and how they work together.

The premise of this story is fantastic. Kids working together, learning amazing new scientific theories and making strong friendships are everything that a great middle-grade book needs to succeed. I do, however, feel that the language used by Airlie and the adult characters in their conversations with the kids was way too scientific and complex—I realise that the main character is basically a savant. Still, she wouldn’t automatically understand abbreviations and acronyms used by real scientists or police officers. This is a large part of the reason for my 3-star rating, as well as some pacing issues.
On the other hand, if I were actually an 11- or 12-year-old reading this, I may not feel that way about the vocabulary! Overall, it’s a fun story with good characters and built to motivate young minds in an intellectual direction. All good things!

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Time for PSyQ
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