Have you heard of Katie Andrews Potter? If you are a genealogist and have not, you need to know about her. Katie lives near Indianapolis, Indiana and loves family history. According to her author’s bio, she has filled many spiral bound notebooks with stories and story ideas. The idea for her new book Going Over Home was conceived in 2009 when she visited a cemetery in Brown County, Indiana. She let the ideas percolate in her mind until the story was formed and then she wrote. The book was released a few months ago.

When I started the book I read several chapters and had to force myself to put it down because I had other things that had to be done. But I read it in long chunks of time to finish it. The book is a quick read and can be read in a few hours if you have the time to sit, which I wish I had! It is also appropriate for youth and adults. The way she writes grabs your attention and makes it hard to put down.

As you read Going Over Home you will be transported between the past and present in a way that flows very nicely. The book is about a family that moved through a time portal from the 1800s to the present day for reasons unknown (at the beginning of the book.) Maddie (Maddox) is the main character who finds herself questioning her family and their story when she has to do a school project.  As part of that project, she visits Connor Prairie with her school group. The sights, sounds, and smells transport her back in time to a place she knows is familiar, yet can’t quite figure out why.

As Maddox begins researching her family’s history after she goes off to college, the details she finds are very disturbing. How can she be from the past but living in the present? Why did her parents lie to her about their past? Why won’t they answer her questions? Then one day she finds herself in the past talking to her great grandmother. Now the pieces are beginning to fall into place. She discovers the reasons her family moved between times just as someone becomes very dangerous and a threat to Maddox and her family.

I won’t give the entire story away because it is one you must read for yourself. Katie weaves a magical story of past and present. She talks about resources every genealogist uses to locate information on their families. She builds in the themes of family, love, hardship, danger, and finally peace.

I highly recommend reading her book and sharing it with your children. It is one you can read as a bedtime story for several nights. What a better way to introduce your children and grandchildren to genealogy and history than through a story? And I must admit I’m a little jealous of Maddie being able to travel back and forth in time. I’d love to be able to do that and get some questions answered about my family. Wouldn’t you?

Where can you find Katie’s book? Purchase it in paperback on CreateSpace for $7.99 plus shipping. It is also available on the Kindle for $3.99. Want to know more about Katie? You can find her blog Going Over Home; contact her on Twitter as @andrewspotter26 or FaceBook.

Disclosure: Katie sent me a copy of the book to read and review on my blog. The opinions here are my own.