Before You Leap by Les Lynam

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Before You Leap by Les Lynam is a fun filled science fiction adventure for teenagers. It is a time traveling adventure that has LX, a boy from the year 2216, traveling back to the year 1995 to study the era and interact with his ancestor from that time, a teenager named Sean Kelly. I really like the writing in this novel. The scenes and interactions between Sean, Alexis, Nicole and the teenagers of his era are spot on. Trust me when I say it gets complicated…very complicated. Sean is a typical American teenager of 1995 which means he’s a little clueless and very confused about himself, life, and especially girls. On the other side of the equation LX has a wealth of information to draw upon but finds himself frustrated by simple conversations, and the confusing subterfuge that takes place when humans from the twentieth century communicate, particularly when they are of the opposite sex.

I found the scenes between Sean, Alexis, Nicole, and Alex funny and illuminating. The characters grow with every conversation and you watch them become friends and sometimes want them to be more but of course that is where it really gets complicated. Young adults will like Before You Leap and I think it will teach them or at least make them think about the meaning of friendship, relationships, and gender. Les Lynam has written …Before You Leap in such a way as to make a sequel natural and I think teens everywhere will want to read more about Sean, Alex, Alexis, and Nicole.