"Throwback" by Maurene Goo

Throwback (Apr. 11, 2023) by Maurene Goo.

<This is a standalone novel.>

Time is a mother. Like, for real. Samantha Kang is a Gen Z high school senior in 2025 who’s always butted heads with her perfect mom. Priscilla is a first-generation Korean-American, a former high school cheerleader and one of the “in crowd” who graced her homecoming court. She expects Sam to embrace the same all-American nightmare. After a huge blow-up with her mom when her beloved grandma (Priscilla’s mom), her halmoni, falls into a coma, Sam is stuck finding her own way to school during a downpour. She employs Throwback Rides, and Marge picks her up. She drops her off at her high school. North Foothill High. Except it’s all slightly off. The lighting, the color of the lockers, the year. She’s been thrown back to 1995. Priscilla Jo is a gorgeous high school senior, looking like perfection at school around her mostly Caucasian classmates and working at her mom’s dry cleaners shop, as well as often caring for her little sister, Grace, and making meals for the family when their mom’s at the cleaners. Their dad has been deceased for a few years. As if being on a time crunch isn’t bad enough – she’s got to figure out how to help her mom and Halmoni in the ‘90s or risk staying trapped there – but there’s the extra trickiness of dealing with outdated tech, ‘90s microaggressions and finding the right guy in the wrong time.

            “Throwback” is a YA novel that has high drama, but a big heart with a Back to the Future vibe and a rundown, old hatchback with chipped teal paint (a far cry from the DeLorean). My first story from Goo is one I found to be delightful. I don’t much care for expletives, as I don’t ever think they move a story along, but that’s easy enough to ignore. What’s at the forefront is a sometimes snarky love story, and I’m not only referring to romantic love, but the love that binds families, too, even when that love isn’t obvious. It’s YA, so it’s teenager-drama-ridden, but it’s also an emotionally complex ride with intergenerational relationships. There’s hardheadedness and anger, but it’s tempered by compassion and connection. As someone who was a kid in the ‘90s, reading this felt nostalgic and sometimes familiar. It’s vibey, inventive and bright, and I’m glad that I spotted this book at my local library.