WWII, time travel, "the unbreakable ties of friendship"? Say no more, I'm in. 
 Once Was A Time was a surprisingly good read about a girl named Lottie, lost in time and separated from her family and her best friend Kitty. By surprising, I mean I picked it up to skim it for the purposes of readers advisory and couldn't put it down. The book starts in 1940s England, where civilians fear German bomber planes and Lottie's dad is exploring the potential of time travel. We then jump to a new period in time and a completely different country (I'll refrain from saying when and where so as not to spoil it, but I was beyond delighted when the Lottie's new world was revealed). 
 Lottie's love for Kitty and her desire to reconnect with her lost friend are heartbreaking but serve as the fuel for this story. One thing I really appreciate about this book was that Sales respected the boundaries of time travel that she had drawn. Time travel, while a fascinating topic, can often be mind-numbingly difficult to wrap your mind around. Sales makes it simple enough for young readers to follow, but also doesn't manipulate the idea of it to create a super pat ending. I'll stop there and let you discover what happens on your own... 
 One minor qualm: I absolutely loved that Lottie finds refuge at the library and that the librarian becomes one of her dearest friends, but I found it very hard to believe a library would hire a TEN year old to shelve books and check out items? No way. But that little questionable tidbit aside, I liked how Sales highlighted the necessity of libraries and how important it is for them to receive funding. A good lesson to teach kids who will hopefully continue to read and support libraries later in life!