Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Thrilling, time-traveling Old West fantasy adventure.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
Twelve-year-old Sam Miracle, everybody agrees, is more trouble than all the other boys at St. Anthony of the Desert Destitute Youth Ranch put together -- even the one who's already torched a gas station. He's a physical wreck, especially his arms, which are so injured that his elbows no longer bend. Also, he keeps having weird dreams about stagecoaches, train wrecks, outlaws, and gunfights -- and waking up in the desert or in the emergency room. Then a menacing stranger arrives at the ranch, and Sam is plunged into an all-too-familiar Old West scene where, he gradually learns, he's fought and died many times, failing to save his sister from a horrible death and leaving the universe at the mercy of a power-mad villain. Can he get it right this time?
Is It Any Good?
One battered 12-year-old boy is all that keeps a time-traveling villain from having his way with the world, as fantasy adventure meets the Wild West in an appealing, outlandish series start. Well, it's one battered 12-year-old boy and a few of his friends, from his foster parents' strong-willed daughter to a mysterious Navajo priest.
OUTLAWS OF TIME: THE LEGEND OF SAM MIRACLE may make readers' heads spin like the tale's time-bending sandstorms as it leaps from century to century, gradually revealing snippets of a cosmic conflict behind a fateful gunfight. But adventure-loving tween boys and girls will cheer resolute Sam, his brave, self-appointed companion, Glory, and their unlikely allies -- and eagerly await the next installment.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Wild West. Why is it such a popular setting for all kinds of stories? What happens when you add magic and fantasy to the mix?
How do you think it would feel to suddenly have special powers you couldn't quite control? What would you do?
If a villain took over our universe in the past, how do you think things might be different today?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Forrest Dickison
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books
- Publication date : April 19, 2016
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 336
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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