And Heere She is, Folks. Deborah Heal! (Drum roll or music)

 I'm today's stop on the bloggy train for Deborah Heal's YA book, Unclaimed Legacy. There is a guest post from the lovely author herself following my review. 

"I call it time-surfing," Abby said. "It's like being there,

 except no one can see or hear us."

"Whatever you call it," John said, "that was crazy--what we just did.

 Beyond realistic. I mean, I was in that guy's head

and knew everything he was thinking."

Abby's weird computer program is working again. And it comes in handy when they agree to help the Old Dears next door with their family tree. Except Abby and John learn more about one of the ladies' ancestors than they ever wanted to know. Convicted in 1871 of murder and arson, Reuben Buchanan is a blight on the family's reputation. But was he really guilty? Abby and John get inside the mind of a murderer to find out.

But while they're rummaging around in the Old Dears' family history, they discover the truth of God's promise to bless a thousand generations... and a legacy waiting to be reclaimed.

My review: 

Merrideth (Merri) and Abby have come across a remarkable computer program that was installed on Merrideth's computer. So now they can make a simulated trip back into time to see how life was for the people who lived there. The story centers around the fact that they can't get the program to work in the Miles Station home. Could there be a virus? 
This book is beautifully written and extraordinarily fun and exciting to read. Deborah plops us right into the story with her vivid descriptions and strong characterizations. I fell in love with all of the characters and felt as though I knew Merrideth and Abby personally. John is utterly awesome and I wholeheartedly recommend you read both of these super fantastic stories. 

Now for the guest post:           

I’m grateful for the crew of volunteers who worked so hard to preserve a bit of local history with the careful restoration of Sand Bank School in Columbia, Illinois. Built during the 1850s, it stands on the site of an even earlier school, a log cabin built in 1801 to serve the original seventeen families pioneering in the area. Perched on a hill overlooking the Mississippi Valley, the one-room schoolhouse looks like the sort of place (to me anyway) that might be a portal for time travel. Every time I visit a historical site, I start imagining the people who lived and died there, wishing I could go back to just see what it was like. (Maybe if I went back to the school when the sun was down and all the visitors were gone…?)

I’ve always loved thinking about the “olden days.” I thought about them a lot, growing up in the tiny once-upon-a-time village of Woodburn, Illinois. How could I not, living in a house with the date 1874 carved into its soft red brick?

My siblings and I acted as amateur historians when we collected arrow  heads Native Americans had left behind for our chickens to scratch up centuries later. We explored the old, nearly forgotten roads. On one, we found a barn where an old stagecoach was being kept out of the rain. (Sorry for trespassing, Mr. Stevens. We couldn’t help it.) And we listened to the stories about how the Woodburn had once bustled back in the day with its stagecoach inn, blacksmith shop, stores, mill, and brick factory.

We heard how the stages used to pass through on their way from Springfield down to Alton and how Abraham Lincoln sometimes stayed at the inn. I heard the stories and read the scant entries in the Macoupin County History Book and I wished that I, like our chickens, could scratch up more clues to the past. I wished men and women had written more about their lives. I wished I could see for myself. I wished Mr. Peabody would loan me his WABAC Machine.

I never found the way back. But the beauty of fiction is that my characters can. In Time and Again, I allow Abby and Merrideth to see it all exactly the way it really was when a girl named Charlotte lived in their old house as part of a bustling village. And while Abraham Lincoln didn’t spend the night there, he did sit down to a nice meal Charlotte cooked. I always thought it would be cool to go back to see if I resembled my great, great, great grandparents. Alas, I don’t know the way. But, in Unclaimed Legacy, I let Abby and John go back to uncover heroes in their friends’ family tree.

I’m not sure where I’ll let them go next. But I’ll have fun thinking it up. I can’t go back myself, but that’s all right, for now.

Thank you Deborah. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed meeting you and reading these wonderful stories. 

Bio

Deborah Heal is the author of the young adult novel Time and Again. She lives in Waterloo, Illinois, where she enjoys reading, gardening, and learning about southern Illinois history. She is married and has three grown children, three grandchildren, and a canine buddy named Scout (a.k.a. Dr. Bob). Currently, she is working on book three in the Time and Again trilogy.

You may learn more about the author by visiting her website: www.deborahheal.com, her  Facebook Fan Page, and Goodreads. Her books may be purchased on Amazon.com.

CLICK TO LEARN MORE:

About Time and Again: Charlotte of Miles Station

The History behind Miles Station

About Unclaimed Legacy, the second book in the series

The History behind Unclaimed Legacy

About the Author

            Her house: http://www.deborahheal.com

            Deb's facebook: http://facebook.com/DeborahHeal

Where to buy the books     

            Amazon

            Barnes & Noble

(Psst. There's a giveaway, peeps!) 

Win a copy of Time and Again, the first book in the trilogy. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Leave a comment telling me why you want to win a copy of this exceptional story. For additional chances to win, see Deborah Heal’s official website and LIKE her Facebook Fan Page.

Excerpt (from Time and Again)

“No…There’s no way that would work. I mean no one could invent a software program that could do that. No way.”

“What are you talking about?” Merrideth said, staring at her.

Abby didn’t answer, but taking the mouse from Merrideth, she placed the cursor on the View icon on the menu bar and clicked. “This is so similar to my brother’s architecture program,” she began, “that maybe we’ll be able to …”

When she clicked on Flip, both girls simultaneously gasped. “…do this,” Abby said with satisfaction.

The screen view had rotated on its vertical axis and now they were seeing the back side of Colonel Miles’ house. White sheets on a clothesline snapped in the wind. A young woman in a long blue dress and bonnet was stooping to pull a wet sheet from the wicker basket at her feet. A gray cat came out of the barn and, stepping delicately through the wet grass, cautiously bypassed the flapping sheets to lay in the sun on the back step.

After a moment of stunned silence, Merrideth said, “It’s her! It’s Charlotte.”

Excerpt (from Unclaimed Legacy)

Merri leaned forward and studied the monitor and then, laughing, said, “It’s them.”

Frowning, John looked closely at the monitor. “That’s crazy. This is just a computer program. It can’t be them.”

“See the resemblance? Just project forward fifty to sixty years,” Abby said. “That’s definitely Beulah and Eulah.”

“Boo and Yoo,” Merri said. “Get it?”+

“That’s insane! No one could make a program that could—”

“We don’t know what this is or where it came from. All I know is that it’s awesome,” Abby said. “And we really are seeing Beulah and Eulah back in the forties—you got the bit about food rationing, didn’t you? And if you think that’s wild, just wait until you see what happens when we lock onto one of them and go virtual mode.” 

 “Virtual mode? Show me.”

Abby smiled smugly and turned back to the controls. “Okay, John. Hold onto to your hat.”

First, there was a confusing blur of color and whirring sounds and then…

Here's the rest of the tour y'all: (Forgive the formatting)

Oct 12th: http://itstimetoreadmamaw.blogspot.com  

Oct15t:http://www.christianchicksthoughts.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html
Oct16th:http://www.christianchicksthoughts.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews.html
Oct 17th: http://labornotinvain.blogspot.com/
Oct 18th:http://gabina49.wordpress.com/about/
Oct 19th: http://kerrificonline.blogspot.com/
Oct 22nd: http://hottbooks.com/
Oct 23rd: http://myguiltyobsession.blogspot.com/
Oct 24th: http://christianbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/
Oct 25th: http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/
Oct 26th: http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/
Oct 29th: http://hottbooks.com/
Oct 30th: http://allisonsbookbag.wordpress.com/
Oct 31st: www.bloomingwithbooks.blogspot.com
Nov 1st: www.abookloverslibrary.com
Nov 2nd:http://armsofasister.com/
Nov 5th: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/
Nov 7th: http://faerytalesarereal.blogspot.com/
Nov 8th: http://ctfdevourer.blogspot.com/2012/08/time-and-again.html
Nov 17th: http://edgychristianfictionlovers.ning.com
Nov 23rd: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to comment for a chance to win.