Netta Becker and the Timeline Crime is a deeply engaging time travelling mystery. Layered with meaning and important questions for young readers while exploring both ancient and modern culture, it would make a fantastic class read aloud alongside an Ancient Greece topic. We’re so used to the story of King Minos, Theseus and the minotaur hidden in the labyrinth that it’s easy to accept it at face value. This adventure plays with the history involved and looks at these traditional stories in a new way.
11-year-old Netta does not want to be on holiday with her family in Crete. Planned by her younger brother, Remy, who is obsessed with the Ancient Greeks, she couldn’t be less interested. Preteen attitude fuelled by the fact that she’s missing an important swimming gala with her friends, Netta is sulky and distant – so much so that her parents don’t notice when she actually starts to drift away. Surrounded by Ancient Greek art, the frescoes, mosaics and statues pull Netta into another time. She can see characters from the past and begins to interact with them in unusual ways. As she spends more time in the past, her connection to the present starts to fray. Netta begins to question her reality: Why has she been drawn into the past? Can she actually change the course of history? Are there other stories worth telling?
Netta finds herself in the palace alongside King Minos and his daughter, Ariadne. As Netta and Ari become friends, Netta gains insight into the arrogance of the king and his murderous nature. He may have a dangerous beast in his labyrinth but who is the true monster? The stories of women and children are left untold, seemingly insignificant among these greater men. Ari and Netta challenge this belief, revealing that “being unseen by history doesn’t mean life wasn’t worth living.”
Thank you to Uclan Publishing and Antonia Wilkinson for a copy of this fantastic book.
26th June 2025
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