Hi! My name is Janie Ray, and I'm eleven years old. When I first got this diary from my mom, I didn't think I'd have all that much to write about. I mean, let's face it - fifth grade isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world.
But then really strange things started happening. Like last week, my best friend Sheila and I were hanging out in our clubhouse, drinking lemonade and trying to figure out what to do about Marcia the Snob (who literally thinks she's queen of the fifth grade and seems to specialize in making my life miserable...), when we suddenly noticed a weird inscription on this old medallion I found when I was little. The crazy part is, it was written in a secret code Sheila and I made up for our clubhouse JUST THIS YEAR!! At first we figured someone was playing some kind of a trick on us. But then, before we realized what was happening, we ended up in the forest with an exceedingly odd girl who kept insisting the year was 1739.
Let's just say my life isn't so boring anymore. And that’s an understatement.
The book is a collection of five stories, in one volume. It has a 143 reviews and rankings on Amazon with an average of 4.5 stars.
The kindle version tends to rank around 30,000-50,000 and the paperback jumps around, between 20,000 - 200,000, depending on the day. At Christmas ranking has reached about 4,000.
All the Janie Ray books have together over 300 five star ratings on Goodreads.
Sheila and I glanced at each other, and then, as if by unspoken agreement, we both scrambled to our feet and started running away as fast as we could. We must have taken the man by surprise, because he just stood there, his mouth open, and watched us go.
We ran and ran for what seemed like hours, but was probably more like ten minutes, before Sheila stopped and leaned against a tree.
“Wait,” she said between breaths. “I need my inhaler.” Sheila has asthma, and always carries a small, white inhaler with her in her pocket.
“Ok.” I looked around, catching my breath, and was relieved to see no one had followed us. We were in the middle of a forest, with pine trees all around, and in the distance, I could hear the faint sound of running water. A creek? I reached up to brush a few stray strands of hair out of my eyes. My head was hot and sweaty, and my hair felt even frizzier than usual. It must have been close to ninety degrees out! Not March weather at all, I thought. I pinched myself again, wondering if maybe I was just losing my mind.
“Wow.” Sheila broke into my thoughts. “T-t-this is u-unbelievable! D-do you think we really t-travelled through time?” She had an awed look on her face as she stuffed the inhaler back in her pocket.
“I don’t know…” My voice trailed off.
“Well, t-that guy sure didn’t look like he lived in the twenty-first century.” Sheila managed a weak smile.
I nodded mutely. That was for sure.
“So what should we do now?” Sheila moved a couple of rocks out of her way and sat down on the ground, suddenly all business. “Let’s make a plan. You still have the medallion, right?”
That’s one great thing about Sheila - she can be pretty impulsive sometimes, but she’s a very practical person.
