Throwback

Definitely more Marty McFly vibes than Annabelle Andrews when Samantha Kang takes an off-brand ride share after a fight with her mom and winds up at the 1995 homecoming week at their shared highschool, Quick to realize her predicament, Sam quickly figures out a place to stay and the reason she has been sent back--to help her mom Priscilla win homecoming queen and smooth the relationship between her and her own mother, Sam's grandmother. This was a fun, fast paced read. The pop culture touchstones of the mid 90's are relayed really well and the cringey casual racism Sam sees firsthand begins to shape her new thoughts about her mom's upbringing and relationships. There were a couple twists I didn't see coming and scenes with so much show more humor, I chuckled aloud. show less

This Back to the Future inspired book has Sam taking a Throwback ride service after a fight with her mom. She ends up in the 1990s at her hometown high school during Homecoming week. It soon becomes apparent her mission must be related to helping her mom win homecoming queen. The book teaches all 3 generations of women in the family a lesson from the experience. Super engaging, fun read. As someone that was in high school in the late 1980s, the cultural commentary really hit. There's a good romance and Sam is a character who I wanted to cheer for. It is that teen romance story, but it has commentary on immigrant families generationally, broader look at racism and acceptance in American culture over time.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the family relationships were very interesting and fleshed out, and I liked the main character and her narrative voice. However, I thought the romance subplot was poorly written and not needed. Overall, I would recommend to people looking for a fun book about complicated family dynamics.

This book was so fricken cute and wholesome I almost can't deal with it!!

While I think the range of readers that would enjoy this book is wide, I do think that that someone like myself, a borderline Gen Xer who was actually in high school in 1995, really had a lovely connection with it.

I mean, who knew you could have such an incredible microfiche scene in a story???

Throwback by Maurene Goo

If you could change the course of your mother’s life, what would you do? This is the question posed by Throwback, a young adult novel filled with edge and heart. Samantha Kang is utterly at odds with her mother, unable to understand why their outlooks on life are so different. When she is transported back in time, Sam realizes that she has the opportunity to alter her future, and must learn to become friends with her mother as a teenager in the past. Can she truly rewrite the story of their lives? Or is the past forever set in stone?

Sam is an overly modern heroine, perhaps because her timeline is set in 2025. She is intensely passionate, and regularly calls out offensive actions, chauvinistic comments, and show more racism in the past. While important to note how standards have changed, I found her comments far too repetitive. As the daughter of an immigrant, I found the themes of conflict between generations to be very authentic, and the different ideals of the American dream were deftly explored. The quirkiness of the characters is a strength within the writing, as well as Goo’s firm sense of setting. I am critical of the lead character, because I felt that Sam wasn’t a very sympathetic figure, but she does show teen angst quite realistically. Overall, this novel was a fun ride, and I greatly enjoyed the dynamic relationship between the mother and daughter. show less

Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla, they’re just too different. After a huge fight between them, Sam gets left in a parking lot and has to use a rideshare app to get to school. She gets there, but instead of her time, it’s now 1995… and Priscilla is a 17-year-old senior.

Now, Gen Z Sam has to fit into an analog world. The fashion she gets, but everything else is baffling; what’s with the casual racism and misogyny? And what is “microfiche?” Also - why does Sam feel like she would actually be friends with Priscilla??

Will Sam be able to figure out what she needs to fix in order to get back to her own time? And what about these feelings she’s getting for a boy in 1995?

So, I have a soft spot for show more time traveling; it’s not something I gravitate towards per say, but if the book catches my eye and I see it has time traveling in it, then I’ll most certainly read it. Add to the fact this one was set in the 90’s and I was most definitely going to read it.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Sam and her mother and the exploration we get to have with it in this novel. As someone who is pretty close with her own mom, I think it would be so fun to go back in time and be friends with her in high school (though she would have been in the early 80’s).

Though this is a YA book, I can see both teenagers and adults enjoying it - especially the adults that grew up in the 90’s, but the culture shock from Sam can be enjoyed by both. Those who have a complicated relationship with their mothers could also enjoy this.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this time traveling, throwback to the 90’s novel and can’t wait to put it in the hands of a few friends of mine.

*Thank you Zando Young Readers and Edelweiss+ for a digital advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review show less

After a particularly vitriolic falling out with her controlling and exacting mother, Sam calls for an alternate ride to school, but the service that shows up is Throwback Rides. She is transported back in time with a mission to help her teenage, first generation Korean American mom become homecoming queen.

I like time travel stories, and I was looking forward to this one as the premise sounded kind of fun and (somewhat) lighthearted. Overall, it was a mediocre story with a few minor issues. There are some timing/detail discrepancies (Sam tells someone it is her first day at school when it isn't, and nobody goes straight to the homecoming dance from the football game) that ring false and can throw the reader out of the story temporarily. show more Sam herself is frequently unlikeable, doing dumb and inconsiderate things; she thinks she can make things happen via brute force without regard to what others may want or feel. A number of aspects of high school felt "off" to me (e.g., homecoming court was not a voting campaign at my school) but it's been 30 years since I've been a teen and what do I know? Teens less fussier than I will probably still enjoy the book! show less