Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 11))
Imagine being able to go back in time-just 15 minutes-to undo something you did or said. That's what seventh-grader Casey can do with his grandfather's old watch. It allows him to say the right thing instead of the wrong thing to girls, to elude a bully's daily dunking and to be at the right place in the right time on the football field. This engaging premise is tricked out with a snappy cover, obtrusive design, inclusion of familiar boy-author names, and occasional opportunities for the reader to add to the story-but it doesn't need those bells and whistles. Casey is an appealing and well-developed character, the plot moves along swiftly, once it gets going, and the story ends happily with our hero beginning to understand the bully as well as to cope with his bullying ways. An easy sell for fifth- and sixth-graders. 2006, HarperCollins, 176p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 12. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Loretta Gaffney (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2006 (Vol. 60, No. 1))
Fifteen minutes isn't a lot of time, but it's enough to fail a pop quiz, say something really stupid to a girl, fumble a pass, or get dunked headfirst into a boys'-room toilet by a popular jock. It's also the amount of time that the Go-back machine embedded in Casey Little's watch can rewind, and after discovering the time-traveling properties of his watch, Casey begins rewinding time on a regular basis in order to fix his blunders. Once Casey goes back to a quiz and a football practice with foreknowledge of the answers and a crucial play, respectively, he also discovers that the Go-back can lead him to academic and football glory. His newfound status as a football hero and his knack for knowing exactly what to say gains him the attentions of the popular and pretty Danielle but leads him to avoid the tomboyish (but, of course, equally pretty) Nina, who knows about the Go-back machine and disapproves of Casey's ill-begotten popularity. With its dorkily clever asides, accessible self-referentiality, and goofy humor, this is likely to appeal to the middle-grade fans of Captain Underpants and the Time Warp Trio (in fact, both Pilkey and Scieszka receive in-text shout-outs). The glib quippiness soon begins to wear, however, and there's not enough energy in the predictable plot to reinvigorate things. Nevertheless, fans of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure will appreciate the corny and frenetic humor, and they'll revel in the guilty pleasures of rewinding time. Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2006, HarperCollins, 172p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 3-6.