Books

Reviews and Recognition

Recognition

March, 2024

The Literary Global Book Awards announces Time Benders and the Chase Through Time, Book IV as a finalist in their inaugural year, in the category of science fiction.

April, 2022

The Bookfest Awards announced Third Place honors to Time Benders and the Long Road Home in Science Fiction for 2022 Spring.

October, 2021

Time Benders and the Two Promises awarded Distinguished Favorite by NYC Big Book Award in Science Fiction

April, 2021

Time Benders the Machine, Book I

Time Benders the Machine awarded the Independent Press Distinguished Favorite in Science Fiction.

April 2021

Time Benders and the Two Promises, Book II

Time Benders and the Two Promises awarded the Independent Press Distinguished Favorite in Science Fiction.

Reviews

" JB Yanni, the brilliant mind behind the captivating Time Benders series, has carved a unique niche in the literary world by seamlessly blending science fiction with profound human experiences. Her work is a testament to her ability to weave intricate narratives that explore the complexities of time travel, history, and family dynamics. Yanni’s storytelling is not only imaginative but also deeply rooted in emotional truths, making her characters relatable and her plots compelling. Her books invite readers to embark on a journey through time, while simultaneously delving into the depths of grief, faith, and the enduring bonds of family. It is this remarkable fusion of elements that has earned her accolades and a devoted readership." Reader's House - UK

“A breezy, straightforward approach to time travel featuring unforgettable characters.” Kirkus Reviews

“I loved this book so much that I had a book signing party at my home for this local, wonderful author, J.B Yanni. This is a very well written book that is interesting for adults and a safe and interesting read for any age. I loved the characters and the story flowed without a lot of fluff. I really appreciate J.B. for agreeing to come to my party and participate in the activities! This is a real page turner, and I read it from cover to cover in 4 days.” Yolanda, Amazon Customer

“The attention to detail, and the character development were wonderful. I can't wait to see what adventures the kids get into next.” Robert C., Amazon Customer

“Appealing siblings fortify a time-bending tale that offers plenty of drama.” Kirkus Reviews

“Read Book 1 and couldn't wait for the second book. The cliffhanger really keeps you wanting more. The story is so great for any age with the history, science, and finally a story with a realistic moral dilemma and unafraid to be spiritual.” Goodreads.com

Coming Soon -- Time Benders and the Secret Mission, Book V

Time Benders and the Secret Mission

It's been a year since the Fitzgerald's and their friends chased Thomas and the missing machine. Kim is preparing to graduate from high school, Deb and Ryan are graduating from college. Joe, thinking only about the end of another year of college is met by men in black suits. He is taken to a secret meeting, where high ranking government officials are discussing the hostage crisis. Can Joe help?

When the plot to free the hostages fails, Joe convinces his siblings to use the machine to change this crisis that is unfolding on the news. Can they time travel to very the recent past to help save these people held in the embassy?

They embark on mission after mission to try to stop the hostage crisis without success. When the third attempt results in Ken and Ryan being very badly beaten, Deb and Becky hatch a risky plan to simply lure the leaders of the student group away and kidnap them back to Mr. Brewster's barn. When Ken regains consciousness, he is furious when he learns what the girls did, but it seemed to have worked. Now all they need to do is get these students back to where they belong.

When the dust settles, Joe is questioned. The intelligence has whispers of a secret machine the United States is using. Will the secret of their time travel be revealed?

The Fitzgerald's and their friends are growing up, facing more dire situations, but still working together.

Memoir of Lee Blew

An Ordinary, But a Little Extraordinary Life: Lee's Story

Alzheimer’s is one of those terrible diseases that bit by bit takes the essence of a person away from them, their family and their friends. Along the way, everyone around a person with this affliction loses the memories of the time shared, the laughs, the tears, all that makes up a person. It’s cruel and demanding.

But if you step back, back from the daily care and concern for safety for that Alzheimer’s patient, you find a remarkable person. Although each of us may lead a very ordinary life, we all have a bit of the extraordinary in us. The moments that make us who we are, the legacies we leave our children, are woven into us.

This is the story of Lee, a trombone playing, cheerleading, mother of four, grandmother to eight and great grandmother to one. She married her high school sweetheart, loved to jitter bug, built dollhouses and decorated every surface of her house for Christmas. She also has Alzheimer’s. Although this disease now holds her in its grasp, it should not remove the funny, feisty, friend to so many, and beloved by her family.

Harkening the Erma Bombeck style of poking fun at daily life, this book chronicles the anecdotal stories of Lee. The moments of her life that make her extraordinary.

For anyone out there caring for, or beginning the long journey that is Alzheimer’s, this book will inspire you to share and memorialize your own ordinary, but a little extraordinary lives.

An Ordinary, But a Little Extraordinary Life: Lee's Story

Time Benders

Time Benders is the multi-book tale of the Fitzgerald siblings and their incredible journey of discovery and time travel. When they first discover an unfinished formula and Joe determines it is the formula to bend time, Ken, Deb, Joe and Kim, along with their friends, embark on trips to pivotal moments in US history to try to save their parents, help their friends and help others. Along the way, they learn and struggle with both the limitations of science and the spiritual questions raised by such a power. With four books released, you will come to know these relatable teens and travel right beside them as they make their discoveries.

Time Benders and the Machine, Book I

On a sunny day in 1974, the Fitzgerald siblings learn their parents have died in a tragic accident. Devastated, Ken, Deb, Joe and Kim are sent to boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall – the same boarding school their father and John F. Kennedy went to when they were younger, their Aunt tells them.

When Joe finds an elaborate math problem and solves it with the help of the elusive caretaker, Mr. Brewster, the Fitzgerald's discover they have unlocked the secrets of time bending and travel. Together, they devise a plan to go back in time, change a pivotal moment in history and their parent's lives in the hopes of stopping another terrible event and bring back their parents. Along the way they face looming spiritual and moral questions, while finding their way toward closeness and a path through their grief.

Time Benders and the Two Promises, Book II

Released in February, 2020, this is the second book in the Time Benders series. In this installment, Joe faces the impact of his lone trip home to Cambridge and the anger of his siblings, Deb and Ken. The Fitzgerald children face a crisis of trust and faith in one another as Ken prepares to head off to college.

When Deb learns of the deep sadness that Mr. Brewster faces over a long-ago tragedy in his life, the Fitzgerald children decide to use their time traveling machine to provide aid to someone they care about and go back to 1950s Las Vegas. This time trip makes monumental changes for their dear friend Mr. Brewster, and bolsters their confidence of their time traveling. Joe makes a splash with the release of a new computer language and the heralding of the new "Personal Computer" and Deb prepares to finish high school and go off to college. Kim faces a new challenge with the fallout of from Joe's fateful lone trip home and again, Joe and Deb decide somewhat recklessly to use the machine to correct this wrong. They learn the risks of traveling to places and times where you already exist and Deb barely makes it back to Choate alive.

Later, when Ken's girlfriend Mary suddenly loses her beloved grandmother and learns she too may have a debilitating disease, Deb and Joe plan a daring trip forward in time to help Mary learn her fate.

During this year, the Fitzgerald siblings grow stronger, learn to trust and have faith in each other and learn a new meaning of helping those close to them.

This heartwarming story packs a punch of history, faith, and science sprinkled with kindness through these relatable teens.

Time Benders and the Long Road Home, Book III

Released in July, 2021, the third installment in the Time Benders series sees Kim take the lead on the use of the machine when she is driven by her growing passion to help others. She leads Joe and Becky on a trip back to 1850s Philadelphia where the three face a totally different culture as they work to help fugitive slaves. When Joe gets too close, he is arrested and thrown in jail. Completely out of their elements, it takes much longer to return to their present, but more importantly, Joe has inadvertently changed all of US history from the Civil War forward with some simple conversations with a cell mate. Again, the Fitzgerald’s and their friends must correct the changes they have wrought with their time travel.

When they must bring Uncle Darrick into their circle, they try to help by taking him back to reconcile with his parents. This again causes problems and they must make several trips to fix what they did.

Throughout these many trips, Ken is working to restore his relationship with Mary after she learns she may face the same fate as her grandmother. It is only after much heartache that the Fitzgerald’s and their friends realize they don’t need to time travel to find their way home, they only need each other.

Time Benders and the Chase Through Time, Book IV

Released in August, 2023 this fourth book in the series sees the Fitzgerald clan older, wiser, but now although busy with their lives, faced with a new and challenging time traveling adventure. This time they must search out the person that has stolen their time machine.

When they find the shredded pages and photos in the barn, along with a notebook none of them recognize, they figure out who has taken their machine. He is after revenge against Joe and all the Fitzgerald's and their friends for some imagined wrong done to him. His twisted, evil intent has them moving through time in an effort to stop him and keep him from unraveling history as they know it.

Not able to get in front of the efforts of this enemy, and after a confrontation between Tom and Ryan where Ryan was severely injured, Ken and Joe work to devise a way to use their knowledge to stop Tom. When they manage to keep history in place and thwart every effort this adversary makes, Tom, enraged, finds himself in the crosshairs of the battle of Gettysburg. An unlikely event shifts Ken, Joe, Ryan and Becky’s plans from capture to care-taker. Then the unthinkable happens and they are faced with a question they never dreamed would happen. What to do when someone time traveling dies?

The questions and issues of all of their time travel come back to them in the days tracking Tom.

Clearly, time travel has become dangerous as someone new has access to this means of moving through time. The team of siblings and their friends must make hard choices to solve this new problem and to find their way back to their lives.