Waiting on Wednesday: Cold Summer

So admittedly, I was drawn to this one 100% by its cover.

Just from the description, I was like-meh-time travel. But I want to see how the PTSD is approached and I’m even more curious Kale stopping his own death in the future…past…

Plus I love the cover.

25092254.jpgToday, heā€™s a high school dropout with no future.

Tomorrow, heā€™s a soldier in World War II.

Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasnā€™t had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiersā€”friendsā€”die. Then the next day, heā€™s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.

When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.

But then Harper finds Kaleā€™s name in a historical articleā€”and heā€™s listed as a casualty of the war. Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, heā€™ll be killed in a time where he doesnā€™t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.

 

By J. M. Tuckerman

J.M.Tuckerman is a neurodivergent writer with a big education. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, an MA in Writing, and a BA in Writing Arts (specializing in Creative Writing, New Media Writing, and Publication; concentrating in New Media Production), which she somehow managed to earn despite her three very loud and large dogs. Jessica was lucky enough to intern at Quirk Books and Picador, USA while earning her masterā€™s degrees. Her service dog, Ringo, is very proud of all that she has accomplished and hopes to be on a back cover of a published book with her very soon. An avid reader, writer, and lover of young adult and middle-grade literature, Jessicaā€™s bookshelf is overflowing with hardbacks, paperbacks, and a million half-filled notebooks. She is a proud fur-mommy to two lab/st-bernard littermates, a retriever-mix service dog, and one orange little hobgoblin cat, all of whom have made very audible appearances on the Booked All Night podcast.