When Ailey tries out for the part of the Scarecrow in his school’s production of The Wiz, he experiences an attack of panic and stage fright. Then, Ailey’s beloved Grampa ends up in the hospital after a nasty fall. How can things possibly get worse?

Well, when Ailey tries to carry out Grampa’s wishes in regard to a secret box in the closet at home, he somehow finds himself stuck in the past—trying to save Grampa in the present by encouraging Grampa-in-the-past, as a boy, to be brave and follow his dream. This time travel story includes real characters from American Black history: Bill Bojangles Robinson, Madame C.J. Walker, Paul Cuffe, James Van Deer Zee. And most of the other characters are named after notable Black Americans: Alvin Ailey, Benjamin Banneker, Mahalia Jackson, Josephine Baker, Canada Lee, and others. It’s fun trying to spot all of the names, which are listed in a “Black Excellence List” in the back of the book.

The time travel works pretty well. Ailey changes the past, in a good way, when he travels back in time, and thereby he also changes the present or the future, depending on how you want to think about it. Time travel is always somewhat mind-boggling. Themes and subjects are: tap dancing, performing, stage fright, regret, Black history, Harlem Renaissance, overcoming fear.