The central relationship in the book came as a nice surprise: it’s not Al and his father or Al and his hamster. From The Time Machine to Dr Who, the ability to travel through time and change the course of history has long caught our imagination. Life has already changed considerably for Al since his the arrival of his stepfather Steve and his annoying daughter Carly.

In the end, Al cleverly engineers a total win, and if that seems unlikely considering the hazards of meddling with the past, readers won’t begrudge him.

The astonishing, beautiful new story for all readers of 10 and over from the bestselling and Costa-shortlisted author of TIME TRAVELLING WITH A HAMSTER.

Reading this book during the Christmas holidays (questions like "why are you still reading during family time? After university, I moved to London and became a journalist and then, after a few years, a television producer.

In it Al receives a mission: travel back to 1984 in a secret time machine and save his father’s life.