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A Time-Travel Adventure Novel about Friendship and First Love?a Newbery Medal Winner
by Erin Entrada Kelly
When twelve-year-old Michael Rosario meets a mysterious boy from the future, his life is changed forever. From bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly, also the winner of the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, this novel explores themes of family, friendship, trust, and forgiveness. The First State of Being is for fans of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me.
It's August 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his sixteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby.
It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and bold, things Michael wishes he could be. Unlike Michael, however, Ridge isn't where he belongs. When Ridge reveals that he's the world's first time traveler, Michael and Gibby are stunned but curious. As Ridge immerses himself in 1999—fascinated by microwaves, basketballs, and malls—Michael discovers that his new friend has a book that outlines the events of the next twenty years, and his curiosity morphs into something else: focused determination. Michael wants—no, needs—to get his hands on that book. How else can he prepare for the future? But how far is he willing to go to get it?
A story of time travel, friendship, found family, and first loves, this thematically rich novel is distinguished by its voice, character development, setting, and exploration of the issues that resonate with middle grade readers.
What are you reading this week? (8/7/2025)
Working my way down BookBrowse's Award Winners' list and reading "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly. I promised the kids a trip to the library and Barnes & Noble this weekend and plan to pick up "Every Living Thing: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life" by Jason Roberts, the P...
-Anthony_Conty
John Newbery Medal, 2025
"This short but suspenseful novel is Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me meets Tae Keller's Jennifer Chan is Not Alone. Though it takes place at the turn of the millennium, modern readers will be able to identify with Michael's anxieties over the future of the world, and find his journey compelling." —BookPage (starred review)
"Kelly (also a Newbery medalist, for Hello, Universe) shines when acknowledging today's readers' justified fears while showing them that the key to surviving an uncertain road is traveling it in good company. As Ridge encourages Michael to occupy what he calls "the first state of being" — focusing on the here and now, not fixating on a future we can't control — Michael forges friendships and comes to accept that 'not knowing is part of life." —New York Times Book Review
"Kelly has deftly assembled a community of empathetically rendered characters, making this an enjoyable, uplifting reading experience. The elements of sci-fi will be enough to sate fans of the genre while remaining approachable for all audiences. A lovable cast buoys this time travel drama by one of the most reliable authors in children's literature." —School Library Journal
"An epilogue reveals a delicious, thought-provoking twist on a question posed early on by Kelly: would the disruption of time influence past, present, or future events?" —Publishers Weekly
"Kelly's memorable character development is on full display as anxious and sensitive Michael learns to embrace the present, while Ridge's charming misuse of slang adds humor to this amusing ride. A warmhearted blend of nostalgia and futurism." —Kirkus Reviews
"Newbery winner Kelly gives us a time-travel book that stays grounded, despite the subject matter, and draws on the power of human connection through time and space ... a solid emotional core will treat readers who love stories about found family and bravery, as well as those who would empathize with Michael's anxieties about the unknown future." —Booklist
This information about The First State of Being was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Erin Entrada Kelly is the author of the Newbery Medal–winning novels Hello, Universe and The First State of Being, which was also named a finalist for the National Book Award. She received a Newbery Honor for her acclaimed novel We Dream of Space. Erin Entrada Kelly grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now lives in Delaware. She teaches in the MFA in writing for children and young adults program at Hamline University. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Before becoming a children's author, Erin worked as a journalist and magazine editor and received numerous awards for community service journalism, feature writing, and editing from the Louisiana Press Association and the Associated Press.
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