The Time Keeper Books in Order

The Time Keeper trilogy is one of Barbara Bartholomew's earliest and most straightforward expressions of the idea that would return again and again in her work, time as both danger and possibility. These books are written for young readers, but they move with real urgency and a satisfying sense that the universe is bigger than the characters first thought.

Jeanette Lacy is the anchor.

In The Time Keeper, Jeanette is fifteen, unhappy, and looking for her runaway brother Neil when she stumbles into a network of time travel linked to stones in an old hotel. That sends her through different centuries and into contact with Jesse, a boy whose importance only grows as the series continues. The first book already mixes science fiction, fantasy, and romance, but it keeps everything readable and fast.

Child of Tomorrow expands the machinery. The original route through time is gone, Jesse is stranded away from his own life, and Jeanette and her friend Amy have to find another way. A carnival carousel opens the next path, which tells you a lot about the series' spirit. These books like memorable portals, sudden transitions, and the thrill of being thrown somewhere unexpected.

By When Dreamers Cease To Dream, the stakes are larger still. Jeanette, Neil, and Jesse are drawn forward by a message from the future, by alien friends in danger, and by the need to face the Guardians again. The trilogy becomes less about one accidental trip and more about a small group of young people realizing that their choices matter across times and worlds.

What keeps the series appealing is its momentum. Bartholomew does not overcomplicate the emotional side. Jeanette, Neil, Jesse, and Amy feel like young people trying to be brave before they fully understand what bravery will cost. Friendship, loyalty, sibling bonds, and the first stirrings of romance all sit naturally inside the adventure.

The trilogy is a good place to start if you want to see her roots as a writer for younger readers and her long-running interest in time travel before it became part of her later paranormal romances.