Cartboy and the Time Capsule is a great book, funny and clever. Hal (cart boy) just wants to be a normal kid. Instead he has a mum who makes him wear someone else’s old and stained clothes and eat food from the green market, and a dad who won’t even let him have his own room until he gets at least a B-grade in History. His dad is crazy about history.

The story switches between Hal’s journal and reality. It is filled with photos and Hal’s drawings. I particularly liked when Hal mistakes a speech performance for a cleaning job and totally stuffs up because he didn’t read the brochure properly.

This book is for people who like funny stories. It’s one of those books that you just dread what is going to happen until it does, and then it’s hilarious.

Reviewed by M. M. Cohen, aged 11