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Open the door!
I'm a sucker for a sliding doors narrative: a story where one choice leads to a whole different life. Here are some books I've read and enjoyed which explore this trope.
In This Time Tomorrow, Alice is about to turn forty and is mostly happy with her life. But one morning she wakes up in her sixteen-year-old body. Should she make different choices - about her childhood crush, about her professional life, about her relationship with her father who is young and vibrant again?
Familiar is the story of Elisa is driving home from a conference when suddenly everything changes: the crack in her windshield, her car, her clothing, even her body. She’s stepped into an alternate version of her life and she no longer recognizes her job, social life, or marriage. The one plus to her new life is that her son Silas is no longer dead from a car crash when he was fifteen, but her relationship with her other son Sam is unrecognizable. This book is an interesting portrayal of how a regular person might deal with waking up in a new life and how to reconcile the person we are to the person we think we are.
I think of The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver as a classic of this genre. In one universe, Irina leans into a kiss. In the other, she doesn't. This simple choice dictates whether she stays with her long term partner or upends her life, and this novel addresses the rippling impact of even a small choice.
My Real Children is a science-fictional examination of this trope, but written in a contemporary literary fiction voice. Patricia is very old and confused. She can't remember if she's Pat or Tricia, if she has four children or three children, if she married Mark or had a family with Bee, if President Kennedy died in a bomb or declined to run for reelection after a nuclear exchange... Walton is one of my favorite writers and this book is an excellent starting point into her work!
Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley is a graphic novel take on the idea of having a second chance at your life. Chef Katie's life was going really well - until it wasn't. Luckily a mysterious girl pops up with a magical mushroom that gives Katie a chance at a do-over. However, Katie can't resist trying not just to make her life better, but to try to make it perfect...
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About the Author
Shoshana G. is a children's librarian and likes fantasy novels, trivia, and other people's pets.