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Parents' Guide to

Yesterday Is History

By JK Sooja, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Black teen time-travels to 1969 in fun, lean gay romance.

Book Kosoko Jackson Romance 2021
Yesterday Is History Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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What's the Story?

In YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, Andre survives cancer and recovers with a new liver, given graciously to him by a rich, White, and powerful family in Boston. But something isn't quite right with this liver. Sometimes it hurts and pierces Andre with pain, and he wakes up in his house, but it's his house 50 years ago, in 1969. And a teen boy, like him, is always there. His name is Michael. Meanwhile, Claire, the mother of the boy donor whose liver is now in Andre, calls him up and wishes to chat. She has a son, Blake, and they want to teach Andre about a family secret. Should Andre trust this rich White family? Should Andre trust Michael? Blake? Where will this all lead Andre?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

There's lots to celebrate here for the genre of queer young adult romance fiction. Yesterday Is History features a strong positive role model hero in time traveler Andre, and positive supporting characters accompanying him throughout his journey. Andre is also a great everyperson teen boy, eager and happy with his newly granted ability to time travel, but responsibly careful and ethically reflexive regarding its power and danger. Structurally, the different time periods provide a nice platform for Andre to comment on various differences and developments since 1969 in terms of civil rights, gay and queer rights, and women's rights. There are plenty welcome comments throughout that establish where Andre is coming from that include socioeconomic, racial, and sexual identity observations. The romance and love between both Andre and Michael and Andre and Blake feel genuine and different.

Some readers may be slightly disappointed that the only characters of color are Andre, really, in that his parents appear only briefly and his half-Japanese best friend, Isobel, is also barely in the novel. Andre's two love interests, Michael and Blake, are both White teen boys. First-time author Kosoko Jackson, who's African American, may have made Blake's family rich and White to make a point about how White privilege (and time travel) can lead to great wealth. Nevertheless, some readers still may feel a bit let down that both love interests and all the other primary characters in the book are White.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the queer romance genre in young adult novels. Do you think the love and romance in Yesterday Is History is good for the genre? Why, or why not? How realistic and believable did you find the love between Andre and his two friends, and why might this be important?

  • Between Michael and Blake, which one do you think Andre had the truest connection with? Why?

  • What did you think of the level of strong language in the book? Did it make the dialogue feel more realistic? Why, or why not?

  • How about all the drinking and smoking in the novel? Do you think it was necessary to depict the character of Michael? What would his character have looked like without all the cigarettes, drugs, and drinking? Why do you think Michael did all those things?

Book Details

  • Author: Kosoko Jackson
  • Genre: Romance
  • Book type: Fiction
  • Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
  • Publication date: February 2, 2021
  • Publisher's recommended age(s): 14 - 18
  • Number of pages: 320
  • Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
  • Last updated: February 18, 2021

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