Fast-paced, funny, and full of curricular tie-in opportunities for educators in grades 3-5, this is a great read-aloud title that I will be using in the fall of my 5th grade classroom next year.

Time Villains
By: Victor Pineiro

Dinner never seemed so exciting for Javi. He really loves food, but what he’s in for could be the dinner of a live time. The reader follows Javi, his sister and his friend Wiki through a strange and mysterious adventure. Here his friends will learn history of not only time, but of his own well known little town. Twists and turns lead the reader through each page. This is a very fun quick read that will keep even a finicky reader interested. I give this book a easy reader approval and good old fun stamp.

Pirates and monkeys and tostones...oh my.

Time Villians is the debut of a new series by author Victor Piñeiro, it's time travel with a twist on the classic question, "what three people, real or fictional, living or dead would you invite for dinner if you had the chance?"

Time Villians includes a diverse cast of characters, Javi and Brady are Puerto Rican and Wiki is Haitian American. There's lovely mentions of Puerto Rican inspired dishes made from fried plantains like tostone's and a jibarito sandwich. Finistere, makes for a zany school, think something like Wayside Stories meets Story Thieves and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. And the trio's teachers will remind you of some other fictional characters from books. The time travel aspects and premise are interesting, bringing to mind the question of what happens when changes are made in the past and how it might impact the future? Readers will also enjoy all the various literary and historical characters and those interested can see a complete listing for all of the characters mentioned in the story in Wiki's Pedia of information at the back of the book. Overall this made for a fun debut, although I am curious what will happen next as the premise includes the magical table bringing people from the past and I would think that they learned their lesson about who they might invite in the future. Although the possibilities are limitless. **A huge thank you to Ashlyn Keil at Sourcebooks for the E-ARC**

Sixth grader Javi Santiago has problems — he’s not the brains, he’s not particularly athletic…and his school’s new groundskeeper is a murderous pirate from the 18th century out to get him. Time Villains is a clever, playful and endlessly funny adventure, and Pineiro flavors the story with culinary flourishes, Puerto Rican traditions and tons of heart. With a cast of imaginatively rendered characters plucked from history and literature, this book is bursting with the boisterous energy of the Puerto Rican parranda. Open up and let the party in.

This is a fresh approach to adventure for middle graders!

This summer I have an opportunity to be a MG librarian for summer school, and I was looking for an engaging adventurous read-aloud for my 6th graders. This new release answered with its tales of surprise, family and friends, adventure, and challenges. It offers a unique plot set-up, one that quickly engaged those students who are already moderately (or more) engaged in school. I also appreciated the fresh vocabulary it offered, along with the unobtrusive clarifying phrases for that vocabulary.

A good read, and thanks to Sourcebooks Young Readers and #NetGalley for the chance to preview this strong entry in the MG catalog. Releasing July 6, 2021. Add it to your To Purchase list!

This fun middle grade novel is based on the question “if you could invite three historical figures to dinner, who would you invite. But in this adventure story, there’s a twist. What if you had a magic table that brought them to life? And then another twist. What if one of those people was a deadly pirate who escapes?

This story has a fun and engaging plot and a fantastic and original cast of characters, each with their own interests and quirks. Javi has a great voice and sense of humor and a love of food (which he happily describes to us). He’s also a bit hesitant in the quest to find the pirate, which makes him all the more human and likeable. Javi’s best friend Wiki is your information and plan-making guy. His analytical nature, along with his fear, is a great contrast to Javi. And last but definitely not least, as she will proudly tell you, is Brady, Javi’s sister. Her feistiness rivals the scariest pirate.

Together, along with a list of other characters I cannot mention because it will give plot points away, they take readers on an adventure to save the world from a tyrant and find strengths they didn’t realize they had. Except for Brady. She’s a force to be reckoned with.

This book is perfect for all middle grade readers and will bring out a joy of reading in even the most reluctant reader.

This was a really fun book and a good start to a new series. I enjoyed the characters and the setting of the school and town was pretty cool too. The magic table was even cute and had a little bit of a personality.

Javi is a typical middle schooler, he is just an average student, but he loves to cook and apparently is pretty good at it. He is pretty creative and smart in his own way, and can be brave when he needs to be. He does depend on his friend, Wiki, and his sister, Brady to help him out on his adventures. It was nice to see a sibling relationship that was supportive, but with some good natured teasing. We only saw Javi’s dad a little bit, but he seemed to have a good relationship with his kids, even though he was a little clueless to what was going on.

Blackbeard was sort of the star of the book, even though we don’t see anything through his point of view. I like how after another kid said something about him not talking like a pirate, he went and found out how we modern people think pirates should talk. By the end he sounded more like a movie pirate than a real one, which I found quite amusing.

There are lots of other historical figures through out the book that are hiding out in the town and the school under different names. Once this is discovered it was kind of fun trying to figure out who everyone was. It also comes to light that the table doesn’t just summon people from history, but also literary figures as well. Some kids will be familiar with these characters, but others won’t be people kids have heard of. There was a nice who’s who at the end of the book to help readers out.

The story was pretty fast moving and interesting enough to keep you going. It maybe dragged a little in the middle, but the ending makes up for that. There was a nice weaving of Puerto Rican traditions into the story as well, which was a nice touch. There was also a lot of talk of Puerto Rican food which made me hungry.

A solid start to another fun middle grade series. A nice twist to time travel as well, with the historical characters and book characters coming to the present day. This twist could end up with some interesting stories in the next books.

Time Villains is a fun middle grade (3rd-7th grade) read. Javi, his best friend Wiki, and his younger sister Brady are pulled into a crazy adventure by a magical table, yep a table. There are many historical characters throughout the story, some are helpful and some want to take over the world. I really enjoyed this story and I think younger kids will too, now I need to find a place that can make me some tostones and mofongo!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in return for an honest review.

Such a fun twist on the ‘who would you invite to dinner if you could invite anyone, living or dead?’ question! When Javi Santiago notices a purring sound coming from the dining table his dad has just bought at an antique shop, little does he know the table’s power… summoning figures from the past, and even fictional characters, to dinner. But Javi, his best friend Will (nicknamed Wiki because he’s so smart), and his sister, Brady, get more than they bargained for when they invite Edward Teach to dinner. Teach is better known as Blackbeard the pirate, and when he escapes from the dinner party, Javi, Wiki and Brady are caught up in an adventure that’s made all the more amazing when they learn that this is not the first time their school has used the table’s summoning powers. Laugh out loud funny, and with a cast of extraordinary characters (I won’t give too much away here, but… Mozart! Cleopatra!), Victor Pineiro’s TIME VILLAINS is an absolute thrill ride! Kids will not only love it… they’ll learn something in the process (“Wiki’s Pedia” at the end of the book guarantees it)! My thanks to the author, to Sourcebooks, and to NetGalley for the eARC.

I will be ordering this book for my elementary school library. The kids are going to love it. Time Villains is full of adventure,mystery, thrills and fun. The mystery of who all the teachers are in history or literature is an added bonus. This book is well written and it is an “Own Voices” book that will teach the reader some different foods and celebrations from the Puerto Rican culture. I can't wait to recommend this book to my students!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I really enjoyed this book, it was a nice blend of history and humor which made me laugh often. It had just enough mystery and action in it that I feel like young readers will enjoy this book.

What an adventure! Javi Santiago's life is pretty typical for a 6th grader. He loves to make food, especially sandwiches, and spend time with his best friend, Wiki, and his sister, Brady. But things change when the annual "Which 3 guests would you invite to dinner" assignment is given. Javi needs to nail this assignment, and with the help of Brady and Wiki, he sets the table. The mysterious antique table brings the 3 guests to life at the table. Suddenly the infamous pirate Blackbeard is let loose into the world and the three friends have to figure out how to defeat him. Maybe a little help from some other historical and literary characters might just be the trick.
This book is such a fun adventure. Who doesn't dream of fighting pirates and going on adventures with their friends. With three friends who have very different strengths, readers are bound to connect with one of them. Don't wait, jump in and let the adventure begin.