A young read that packs a lot in that we've seen before – if it lacked any of this book's readability it would have been a struggle. Our hero is a boy suddenly woken up to the fact his parents are splitting up and divorcing, and so he has to get used to two one-parent households in which to share his time. At least he gains a new friend somehow at the same time – a girl who seems to like nothing more than reading out of date computer manuals, oddly enough. When tasked by the school to think of a transport vehicle of the future he demands the construction of a time machine, to take himself back to the more halcyon days of the nuclear family – so just how, and how close, will he get?

Yes, this jumbles the school-project-in-the-time-of-being-bullied, new friendship, a split family, the wish to get back to how it was when it seemed all great – as I say much of this can easily feel second-hand. But I liked the lightness of this. The girl could have been annoyingly over-quirky just for the sake of it, and isn't. The parents too could have been broad stereotypes, and even if the dad gets to have a swerve towards the mid-life crisis they both remain likeable. And as I say this has some distinctive flavours, oddly given by the computer manuals, and David Bowie – again, of all things. So all told this is probably four stars – it could well be new for the reader it's intended, and it does try harder than many to remain distinctive.

I have literally NO IDEA how I'm going to stop myself writing a dissertation on this utterly brilliant, supremely intelligent book. You should see my notes for this review!! For the love of… help!! When I read a middle grade book (a book aimed at readers aged 9 to 11 years old), I need the author to take me on a journey, to inspire me, to teach me, to create a character that I can relate to somehow, and I want to feel that I have new found level of empathy/compassion/understanding for someone in this world. With Shirley Marr's writing, I always get this 'Marr-Magic'!! In this 3rd middle grade fiction book for Usborne, readers get to know, and hop aboard the life journey momentarily of, a boy called James. 
 
This is James's story of how he learns of, and tries to come to terms with, his parents divorcing. With divorce rates higher than ever, not only is this a book with valuable insights for children who have never experienced this in their own family life, but will be a relatable story with multiple moments for reflection and perhaps catharsis for those whose parents who are either separated or divorced. The news of Mum (a psychology lecturer of Chinese heritage) and Dad (an alien-believer and scientist) divorcing comes out of the blue for James. He hasn't seen the signs, doesn't understand why it's happening or what this means for them as a family. How does a split work? Even events like a birthday, does this mean he now gets two? Where's the logic in it all! In a constant state of emotional flux between being tearful, feeling lost, suffering pain and confusion, anxiety and philosophising they why's and wherefores, James decides that the only solution is to turn back time to the day with the happiest memory of his family being together and then this divorce won't ever happen. 
 
James, as a character, is a loner-type who hasn't yet found his tribe. He is a loner, a thinker, someone who needs to feel useful at school (he helps his teacher at break times with her admin, and finishing her lunches). His favourite school event though, is helping out with the parent/carer's annual cake baking competition! You'll find this a source of amusement and cringe as a result of the ridiculous lengths that some parents will go to in these kinds of things, especially to be the one who gets to make the coveted rocket cake! 
 
When James meets Yan, a girl in his class “with the X-ray eyes” who talks to him about algorithms, who also has a Chinese-heritage mother, always has her nose in a book (a computer science one at that), and can guarantee him that she can build him a TIME MACHINE… a ray of hope, friendship and kindness beams down onto him. James is looking for a solution and this enigma of a library-loving girl is his anacrusis. It's got to be more than a coincidence that their school Science Week class challenge is building "Vehicles of the Future"!! Momentarily, the day-to-day worries of fitting in, loneliness and overwhelm, disconnected from happy family home life can be balanced out with a project that could solve everything in a nanosecond… The big question is though, and James eventually is faced with, would you go back in time knowing you may never meet the same people risking losing your current present and possible future for an equally unknown alternative? As Yan's and James's friendship blossoms, Tiger the cat even adores her, is Mission Major Tom, the time machine solution to reverse his parents' divorce, the answer? 
 
'Countdown to Yesterday' is filled with wonderful facts, things that one might daydream about driving along as a passenger in a car, or before falling asleep at night. Here are some gems: 
* “If a meteor was heading towards earth, the length of time between seeing it in the sky and impact would only be five-and-a-half-days.”
* “…a cloud is made of condensation and if you tried to rest on one, you'd go right through and hurtle down to earth at terminal velocity.”
* “A Swedish philosopher named Nick Bostrom came up with the theory that we might be living in a computer simulation.” https://nickbostrom.com
* “A young inventor by the name of Yan Chen created a time machine with a proxy inside that allows you to request any webpage int he form it existed at any point in time.”
* I also learnt about Hobson's Choice and Occam's Razor
As a little bit of an IT boffin, I love the chat between Yan and James when she says, “Did you know computers used to come in flavours?… Blueberry, grape, tangerine, lime and of course strawberry.” To which the James thinks “Old technology is weird”. LOL. The reference to the old bleepers/pagers as a “strange rectangle… to communicate through beeps, like they were whales or dolphins” is hilarious! 
 
This is a story that questions and tests the human condition as each character moves through life and loss in their own ways (Dad with his never ending takeaways, Mum in her new flat with her eccentric pre-loved new furniture and self-rediscovery).  
 
Demonstrating the Kübler-Ross (5 stages of grief) process that a child goes through as a result of the divorce, an adult reading this story with compassion and sensitivity will feel a rawness and helplessness towards James, we can't help James whilst reading his story (although we will it as the plot unravels), but we by reading this book with children in our care we can help them process their own emotions and provide support. Thus is the power of a classroom read-aloud, a bedtime story read to a child by an adult/carer or a book club.
 
“The [School] Library saved my life… I could see the library. Like a beacon. A sanctuary. It was almost shining.” - Yan
 
My overwhelming feeling after reading this book? Love wins, and the universe is both all around us and within us all, all at the same time in every single moment. For every painful memory we create a hundred happy memories, it's how we chose (or our ability) to interpret and remember them that keeps us connected to both yesterday and today in order to build a bright and optimistic future. Safe in the knowledge of who we are, who we love and who loves us, respects us and supports us, life is happy and fulfilling. Some children will always need more support and guidance to achieve this than others. Teachers and school librarians are very often unsung heroes. 
 
Award-winning author, Shirley Marr has a gift for capturing the inner essence of a child's mindset as they experience life events, or have huge change imposed on them whether moving to another country ('All Four Quarters of the Moon', 2022) or are finding out where they fit in within the family or at school. She does this with a subtle quirky sense of humour that makes her protagonists personable and the reader roots for them as they would a for their bestest friend in the whole wide world. An annual middle grade from Marr to start off the new year is truly grounding and provides a benchmark for quality children's literature for the next 12 months.
 
…I can't help but wonder which book the author was referring to when one of the school librarians says to the other “Shall we order a copy of this book? I've heard good thing.” “No, I've heard it's written more for adults than children. Pass.” Of course I don't really need to know, but it was a curious little event that snuck its way into the story that gave me a little giggle moment.

I had requested this, but also Jessica @Usborne was lovely enough to forward me an actual copy.

Is it good? Absolutely it is! I just read a review on a blog I follow (librarylady) and her review blew me away, so this one of mine will not do the book justice!
James lives with his mum and dad in Australia. He thinks all is happy with his family. He has his room with the broken trundle bed in the house on the hill. His David Bowie, Major Tom poster is on the back of his bedroom door.
Then his parents announce they are splitting up. James runs to his room. They were happy, how can this be? Dad stays in the house and Mum moves to a flat which she fills with second hand furniture. He can walk to school still, and he can walk from one to the other if need be.
On the way to school one morning he sees a girl on the other side of the road. she's reading a book, She walks into a lamppost! She then examines it, she then looks in a bush very carefully. James calls her over. She's called Yan, her parents are Chinese (so is James Mum). They talk. James loves Space, Yan likes old books and computers. James helps the secretary at lunchtimes, Yan hides in the library with the old books (and helps the librarians).
The school Science Week project is Vehicles of the Future. James decides to do a Time Machine, rather than a flying car. Dad show James a kind of Time Machine on the computer, it show exactly what was happening on a day in the past. But Yan tell James she has a real time machine.
In between helping his Mum and Dad, making his Time Machine poster and becoming friends with Yan. His parents are so different when they are apart. Mum is even entering the school Cake Competition. Dad is mending an old motorbike, playing his instruments and suddenly doesn't care what James eats; takeaways and deconstructed desserts! James is on a countdown to when Yan can take him back to a time when his parents were happy. But when? He picks some times from their old photographs.
He also finds out about Yan who isn't sure where she fits, she is Australian but doesn't feel it, she has to be aware of her parents culture and wishes for her. They like her to do academic subjects and clubs - she does drama without telling them!
But is Operation Major Tom the success James hope for?
Brilliantly written story about two children struggling to find their place in school and in their family. Both characters are wonderful. They fit the story beautifully.
5*, looking forward to taking the copy into school.
But is Operation Major Tom

Shirley Marr is one of my favourite writers so I jumped at the chance to read and review this one. And what a book it is! A beautiful, imaginative, fresh, and sensitively written story with a striking blend of science and feeling.
Just amazing.

James’ parents are getting divorced. This has come as a complete shock to James and his parents do not seem to have prepared him at all. Like many children he simply wants to return to the days of happy family memories and thinks getting his parents to rekindle their love is the answer. He remembers his top six happy memories in images in his mind with him as centre stage.
He then meets Yan who looks at the world from a new perspective. She treats his suggestion of a time travel machine as serious and offers to help with what it appears is magical powers.
But when he revisits these six memories, other memories crowd in with the focus on his parents and their less than happy recollections of the same moment and he realises that he should be living life in the moment, not the past.

This is a touching middle grade novel about an experience that may seem - at least initially - all too familiar to many children in a time when divorce is so common. But any familiarity only applies initially, mind you, because this story goes in a very unusual direction...

James is struggling with his parents' break-up which has left him with two sets of almost everything, and yet, a life which feels lacking in so many ways. Two homes, two rooms, two changing adults do not make for a satisfactory outcome.

Longing to return to an easier time in his life, James revisits in his recollections his Top Six Memories of time spent with his parents. But why the memories bring him a degree of consolation, they also enhance his longing.

So, during Science Week, after he meets a mysterious girl called Yan, when unexpected possibilities open up, James is very tempted to test his options. Because it seems that it may even be possible to revisit those times in person. But is that really likely to give him what he longs for?

James' desire to change the present by changing the past is something most of us have experienced. He is a relatable character, and Yan is as interesting as she is unusual. This is an emotional story which will touch the hearts of readers.