In New Mexico, Andrea “Rae” Aragon suffers a frayed relationship with her mother, a recovering alcoholic. Her mom’s struggles have tanked her restaurant business and her marriage, forcing Rae to leave her friends for a new school. Unexpectedly, Rae’s beloved grandmother, Lydia, radically complicates her life by telling her that she, like others in her family, is a time traveler. To prove she’s legit, Lydia, after giving Rae an itinerary case (which fits on a belt like a buckle) and a personal travel card, sends her to Taos, New Mexico, in the year 1984. There, Rae meets spiky-haired, Sony Walkman–carrying Iggy, an affable 16-year-old whose excessive drinking reminds Rae of her family’s misery. The young time traveler has a mission to replace her grandmother’s lost personal travel card; she’s to track down her great-grandfather, who can make another one. Walters smoothly fuses SF with teen melodrama, benefiting from the narrative’s simplicity. Rae’s grandmother, for example, clarifies certain concepts and rules, but not everything; “I can’t explain that,” she eventually tells her granddaughter. “I can’t even explain how electricity works.” It’s fun to watch Rae adjust to 1984, not just to the old tech but also to a pre-“woke” era; she’s horrified that a favorite song of Iggy’s teems with what Rae deems objectifying and racist lyrics. The author taps into serious social issues, like the racial and gender discrimination pervasive in both eras, and delivers razor-sharp dialogue that makes Rae’s 21st-century slang and references entertainingly clash with those of the 1980s. While the true focus is on Rae’s 2024 troubles at home and at school (as Iggy grapples with comparable demons), the story also touches on more complex time-traveling notions: Rae wonders if she can somehow change the future (a universal no-no among time travelers) and may inadvertently create a time paradox.