Where Have You Been, Billy Boy?

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

While time-shift fantasies generally transport contemporary characters
into the future or the past, Hughes adds a wrinkle by bringing someone
from the past into the near present. In 1908, Billy, 11, homeless and
parentless, hides in a park where he is befriended by Johannes Braun, a
carousel operator who offers him room and board in exchange for help. In
the following weeks, Billy twice sees Johannes ride the carousel at
night; as its speed increases, the carousel becomes a shimmering blur.
When Billy sneaks his own “ride” on the carousel, he suddenly finds
himself in a Colorado farmer’s barn. The date is July 5, 1993, and
Billy is stuck in the future because of the “present” carousel’s
state of disrepair. However, 26 days later, through the efforts of Susan
Patterson, her brother Jim, and their neighbor George, the carousel is
made sufficiently functional that Billy can return to 1908. In addition
to raising challenging questions about the concept of time for her
middle-school readers, Hughes also produces some good bits of humor as
Billy is passed off as Susan’s cousin Bobbie. Recommended.