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Turnabout – Margaret Peterson Haddix

If you could turn back time and reclaim your youth, would you do it? This is the question faced by the residents of a nursing home in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel, “Turnabout.” When two scientists come to the nursing home and offer the residents a chance to grow younger instead of older, some of them leaped at the chance. Others didn’t even know what it was they were signing, as was the case with Amelia – all she knew was that a white-coated man wanted her to sign a form. She had lost her hearing and couldn’t tell what it was he’d said.

All the residents were given an injection and they fell into comas. When they woke up, they realized that they felt better than they had in years. Amelia could hear again. Her friend Anny Beth could maneuver her own wheelchair. Soon Anny Beth was walking again –forget the chair altogether. Little by little, as the residents un-aged, they were free of their arthritis, their wrinkles began to subside, and all those aches and pains were gone. It was like having a second chance at life.

But there was a problem. They would continue to age backwards until they became infants again, and then they would die. The scientists tried to halt the experiment, but a man died in the attempt.

Anny Beth and Amelia decided to leave the clinic and go out on their own. Anny Beth married again, but had to divorce her husband when she realized their age difference was starting to look strange. Along the way, the two women found things they were glad to do over, but for the most part, they were happy with the way they’d lived their lives in the first place.
Now the year is 2085, and the women look like teenagers. They know that soon they’ll have to find a guardian, because two young girls can’t live on their own forever without raising eyebrows. They begin their quest, and find someone in a very unexpected way.

This book had a fascinating premise and held me right until the end. It did leave me with a cliffhanger, which I don’t really care for, but it was a great read and I highly recommend it.

(This book was published in 2000 by Simon and Schuster.)

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