Back to Before

``My, she's a tall one. . . . How old are you, sweetheart?'' a walk-on character called Mrs. Fried-egg asks one of Slepian's 11-year-old protagonists. ``Forty-three,'' Hilary replies serenely. Besides an acerbic wit, Hilary and her cousin Linny have something else in common: each must come to terms with deep loss: Linny's mother has died and Hilary's parents have divorced. Then a time warp (or is it only a bicycle accident?) flings them back a year, ``back to before all the pain began.'' It seems like a heaven-sent opportunity to prevent the past's tragedies--or to reevaluate them altogether. Slepian ( The Broccoli Tapes ) shows keen psychological insight, and she leavens her serious themes with the time-travel motif and its attendant subplots (e.g., how will the children return, what role is played by a certain brass ring). A skillful combination of the poignant and the fantastic. Ages 10-14. (May)