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Once upon a Kiss

Robin Palmer - Author

Zoe must make sense of a changed life, including new technology and a social position unlike the one she remembers. Her efforts to revive her friendship with Jonah sit alongside questions about popularity and returning home.

More about this book

It's 1986 and sixteen-year-old Zoe Brenner's world revolves around Depeche Mode, Judd Nelson, exercise-obsessed parents, and her best friend Jonah. Then one day, in a freak Fun-Dip choking accident, Zoe falls unconscious, and awakes in the year 2016. So much has changed, and Zoe needs Jonah to help her make sense of it all. But in this life, Zoe is the most popular girl in school, and she soon realizes this Zoe doesn't associate with nerds like Jonah. As Zoe juggles new technology, attempts to hide her enthusiasm for poet blouses, and manages to keep her super jock boyfriend at bay, she tries to rekindle her friendship with Jonah and use her popularity for a good cause. Will she ever get back to 1986? And more importantly, does she want to?

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Book Analysis

At a Glance

Discover

FriendshipSocial statusTime travel· Explained

Consider

Violence and harmSocial conflictViolence

Personalised Fit

Beyond the Cover

friendshipsocial statustime travelchangetechnology

Fiction

Themes in Context

Friendship and popularity

After the time shift, Zoe is popular and no longer associates with Jonah, though she tries to rekindle their friendship and use her popularity for a good cause.

How the book presents it: The contrast invites attention to how Zoe's choices affect a friendship as her social position changes.

Talk about: If popularity changes whom Zoe spends time with, what choices could help her act on the friendship she wants?

Two eras, one changed life

Zoe wakes in 2016 after living in 1986 and has to make sense of changed technology and circumstances.Exploratory / explanatory

How the book presents it: The time shift structures the story around a comparison of eras and gives Zoe's adjustment a central role.

Talk about: Which changes between the two periods seem most significant to Zoe, and which might matter most to you?

Why It May Be Worth Reading

The setup lets readers compare how Zoe's identity and relationships change between two eras. It may prompt discussion of whether social status affects whom people value, without making that question's answer clear in advance.

What Deserves Attention

The story begins with Zoe choking on Fun-Dip and becoming unconscious. Its social tensions include a friendship strained by her changed status and a boyfriend she tries to keep at bay.

A Conversation Worth Having

If Zoe can choose between returning to 1986 and staying in 2016, what might make either life appealing to her? What would you want to know before making a similar choice?

Reading Approach

Pause at the shift between eras and invite the reader to notice what feels unfamiliar to Zoe. Later, revisit the friendship thread and ask how her choices relate to her wish to use popularity for a good cause.

Confidence & Basis

Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.

What remains unconfirmed

Friendship and popularity: Readers can consider how Zoe's efforts to reconnect with Jonah relate to her changed social status.
Two eras, one changed life: Readers can compare Zoe's adjustment to new technology with her experience of the two eras.

Once Upon a Kiss - Robin Palmer - Google Books

Limited information

Checked: 1 October 2026.

Relevant to: Two eras, one changed life

Once upon a Kiss by Robin Palmer | Open Library