From the incredible mind of multi-award-winning Australian children’s author Shirley Marr comes a beautiful story for young readers about memories, family, friendship, The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book, David Bowie and time travel!
James wishes he could go back in time. Back to when his mum and dad were together, when he had one home, when his family laughed and climbed hills and went to the movies.
After meeting the enigmatic Yan, a girl who looks at the world differently, James discovers time travel might not be impossible after all.
But if James can live forever in one of his six favourite memories, which one will he choose?
In a place where retro Australian Woman’s Weekly birthday cakes, old Commodore computers, chaotic rideshare vehicles of the future and spacemen all collide, Countdown to Yesterday is a contemporary novel touched with philosophical and science fiction ideas for young readers.
Praise for Countdown to Yesterday:
One part time travel, two parts birthday cake and a whole lot of nostalgia, Countdown to Yesterday is as gentle as it is powerful. As always, Shirley Marr tackles a challenging topic with sensitivity and heart. It’s impossible not to love this book. – REECE CARTER, author of A Girl Called Corpse
The kind of story that makes you smile without even realising, and leaves your heart feeling bigger than it did when you started, this is a smart, lively adventure story through mind and memory, with a little bit of science and a whole lot of cake. This beautiful tale of family, friends, loneliness and hope and feels as close as your backyard, and as big as the universe. It’s a retro-cool book about looking back, falling forward, and changing your own story. Countdown to Yesterday already feels like a classic; if I could time travel, I would, only to read this book for the first time again – FIONA HARDY, CBCA Notable author of How to Make a Movie in 12 Days
A sweet story about love and loss, with a twist that will hit you hard – OLIVER PHOMMAVANH, CBCA Notable author of What About Thao?
Countdown to Yesterday hums with the wish we all make — to relive the best and skip the worst parts of our lives. Yet through the wonderfully nuanced friendship between James and Yan, readers will discover that the true adventure is embracing the chaos and beauty of the present. – JAMIE SUMNER, award-winning author of Roll with It
Published in Australia & New Zealand by Penguin Random House
Published in the US by Simon & Schuster
Published in the UK by Usborne Books