Books like Backward in time by Leo P. Kelley

Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal fourteen-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby. He is going to save the world. And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution. If Bobby wants to see his family again, he's going to have to accept his role as savior, and accept it wholeheartedly. Because, as he is about to discover, Denduron is only the beginning.

"A strange plague called the 'Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget--small things at first, like where they left their keys...then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily...and there is no cure. But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Marianas Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as "ambrosia" has been discovered--a universal healer, from initial reports. It may just be the key to a universal cure. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea's surface. But now the station is incommunicado, and it's up to a brave few to descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths..."--

The territory of Veelox has achieved perfect harmony. Fifteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon arrives on this territory in pursuit of the evil Saint Dane, but all is peaceful on Veelox -- because it's *deserted*. The inhabitants have discovered a way to enter their own personal dream worlds, where they can be whomever they want, wherever they want. Their bodies lie in stasis while their minds escape to this dream realm. Fresh from his battle with Saint Dane in 1937 Earth, Bobby is confident that they can defeat whatever Saint Dane has planned for this world. But once Bobby enters the virtual world, will he be able to resist the lure of the ultimate in escapism?

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is not like other boys his age. His uncle Press is a Traveler, and, as Bobby has learned, that means Uncle Press is responsible, through his journeys, for solving interdimensional conflict wherever he encounters it. His mission is nothing less than to save the universe from ultimate evil. And he's taking Bobby along for the ride. Fresh from his first adventure on Denduron, Bobby finds himself in the territory of Cloral, a vast world that is entirely covered by water. Cloral is nearing a disaster of huge proportions. Reading the journals Bobby sends home, his friends learn that the desperate citizens of the endangered floating cities are on the brink of war. Can Bobby - suburban basketball star and all-around nice guy -- help rid the area of marauders, and locate the legendary lost land of Faar, which may hold the key to Cloral's survival?

Dr. Moreau's daughter, Juliet, travels to her estranged father's island, only to encounter murder, medical horrors, and a love triangle.

When Miranda moves with her family to a new house in a small Massachusetts town, she discovers a mysterious antique--a dollhouse. Through the windows, she is shocked to find what seem to be living people in the tiny rooms, and gradually she realizes that scenes from the lives of the big house's past inhabitants are being replayed there.

This is a Scholastic book I got around 1965-66 while in grade school. The book is 140 pages with a drawing at the beginning of each of the 12 chapters. I think it's cover, which is the original, is somehow more intriguing than the later releases. The portion of the following text in quotes is the description off the back cover because it's a really good summary. "Who is the strange boy who can talk to animals and read people's minds? Where does he come from? The boy, Jon, has lost his memory and does not know. He only knows that he has fallen through the forgotten door to the strange planet, Earth, and that he is in great danger. Soon the family who befriends him is in great danger, too. There is very little time left. Jon must find the secret way back to his planet--before it's too late." You can't help but like Jon, he's friendly, doesn't lie, is gentle and kind to animals. In other words he sticks out like a sore thumb. His present surroundings are familiar and not familiar, somehow not quite right. And the other humans, he's sure they are also humans, are not like any he knows. With the locals out alien hunting and the government getting involved, Jon is in a tight spot. Thomas and Mary Bean, their son Brooks, daughter Sally and dog Rascal are people that Jon senses are like his people. They're not like the others he's been hiding from after being mistreated when he inadvertently ruins a poacher's shot at a deer and fawn. The Beans take him in and do their best to care for him and help him as he tries to regain his memory and find his way home. Jon can "lighten" his feet to run and leap like a deer. He can sense thoughts and feelings and talk to animals. His first friend is the doe he saves. His first enemy, is the poacher. He has never met anyone like this cruel man. Why did this man want to kill the deer, for Jon senses that was his intention? And for the first time Jon feels hatred. He knows it is not like this where he comes from. He's hurt, scared, lost and wants to go home. Is anyone looking for him? Will the people back home find the forgotten door and fix it's old, broken machinery? Will the shifting ground that exposed it cover it up again before anyone realizes he's fallen through? Will he be rescued from the hostile world it sealed off? And what of the family that helped him?

When young Elana unexpectedly joins the team leaving the spaceship to study the planet Andrecia, she becomes an integral part of an adventure involving three very different civilizations, each one centered on the third planet from the star in its own solar system. First published in 1970 and winner of a Newbery Honor the following year. At once a tale of fantasy as well as science fiction, it is as innovative and captivating today as when it was written. This is arguably one of the most sophisticated novels to wear the Newbery Honor seal in terms of its deep philosophy. Yet it is also a fast-paced adventure that marries the romantically moral traditions of dragons and magic with the fantastic and speculative conventions of science fiction.

The struggle of good versus evil continues as Bobby Pendragon follows Saint Dane to the territory of Zadaa. Saint Dane's influence has fueled the fire of discontent between two warring tribes: the Rokador and the Batu. This is also the territory where the Traveler Loor lives as a member of the Batu. Together she and Bobby must work to thwart Saint Dane's efforts to destroy Zadaa. But as Bobby pursues Saint Dane, he begins to notice changes in himself. He is no longer a flip kid looking for excitement. He is a young man beginning to see this quest as more than a series of adventures. He is also learning that as a Traveler, he has powers no normal human should have.

Uncle Grigorian, who turns out to be an alien, takes the Price twins and their cousin Tubs to the capital of the Galactic Empire, where they serve as unbiased arbitrators in the Worm War.

On his second rotation of service, Johnny Turnbull uses his ability as a human softwire to communicate with the Samirans and free them from their enslavement.

"Book #4 of the Jason Thanou Time Travel series. Jason and his team travel to the latter days of the American Civil War to combat a transhumanist threat. Sequel to Pirates of the Timestream. Special operations officer Jason Thanou of the Temporal Regulatory Authority must once again plunge into Earth's blood-drenched past to combat the plots of the Transhumanist underground to subvert that past and create a secret history leading up to the fulfillment of their mad dream of transforming humanity into a race of gods and monsters. The transhumanists are attempting to use the chaos of the American Civil War to escape the Observer Effect: the immutable law that recorded history cannot be changed. If any should attempt it, time has a way of dealing with those transgressors in a very brutal, very final fashion. Now it is the last days of the Confederacy, and the Fall of Richmond looms. In the Shenandoah Valley, in the region later known as Mosby's Confederacy, insurgency brews, and the time travelers must join the raiders to prevent a transhumanist trap from dooming the mission from the start. Yet human freedom is ultimately on the line in both the past and the future, and the leader of a secret slave underground fighting for liberty possesses an incredible secret that may change Jason's fate--and that of the future itself--forever. About Pirates of the Timestreams: "White expertly blends historical and futuristic elements... to create a fast-paced, detail-rich tale, seamlessly inserting his own inventions into factual events... an exciting, engaging story, accessible to new readers and thoroughly satisfying for established fans."--Publishers Weekly About Steve White: "White offers fast action and historically informed world-building."--Publishers Weekly About Steve White's Forge of the Titans: ". recalls the best of the John Campbell era of SF. White's core audience of hard SF fans will be pleased..."--Publishers Weekly ". Engaging entertainment. much suspense and many well-handled action scenes."--Booklist About Steve White's St. Anthony's Fire: "Give this one high marks for entertainment."--Booklist The Jason Thanou Time Travel Series: Blood of Heroes Sunset of the Gods Pirates of the Timestream Ghosts of Time (upcoming)"-- "Special Operations office Jason Thanou of the Temporal Regulatory Authority must once again plunge into Earth's blood-drenched past to combat the plots of the transhumanist underground to subvert the past. This time they are attempting to use the chaos of the American Civil War to escape the Observer Effect: the immutable law that recorded history cannot be changed. The Fall of Richmond looms and in the Shenandoah Valley insurgency brews. The time travelers must join the raiders to prevent a transhumanist trap from dooming the mission from the start. Meanwhile, the leader of a secret slave underground possesses an incredible secret that may change Jason's fate--and that of the future itself--forever"--

You are a brave alien who lives on a planet of wise, technologically-advanced beings. There's just one problem: you are the only member of your generation. Lately, it seems like no matter what you do venture off the grid into the Black Territory following an alligator; befriending new species; transmitting messages out to the universe you get into trouble with the Elder Tribunal. It 's like they don't even remember being just 450 years old! You finally push the boundaries too far and the Tribunal hands down your sentence. You are punished, banished to a young planet: Earth. The Tribunal wants you to meet the Earthlings, and report back what you learn. You are skeptical of this assignment, but excited for some freedom. Your navigational devices have zeroed in on this orb of blue and green: where to first? --[Editorial Reviews]

Seventeen-year-old Anna finds herself on the run from her father's enigmatic Agency, along with the four teen boys the Agency had been experimenting on, as they try to make sense of erased memories, secret identities, and genetic alteration.

A girl, estimated to be sixteen, awakens with amnesia in the wreckage of a plane crash she should not have survived and taken into foster care, and the only clue to her identity is a mysterious boy who claims she is part of a science experiment that will take place in 100 years.

The community of the planet of Isis, misled by power-hungry space captain Michael Joseph Flynn, moves down the path of destruction until Moira, the captain's daughter, exposes his self-serving designs.

Bobby Pendragon has visited the alternate dimension of Denduron and waded through the endangered underwater territory of Cloral. Now Bobby once again finds himself thrust beyond the boundaries of time and space into a place that seems somewhat familiar: First Earth. Bobby and the Traveler from Cloral—Spader—have flumed to New York City, 1937, where they must uncover the evil Saint Dane’s newest plot. But is Bobby ready for the difficult choices ahead