SOLVED. YA/ Children Fantasy book involving time travel and wizardry, released in early 2000s or 1990s. [s]

[Lerena]

Hi!

I'm looking for a book that I used to read when I was a kid/teenager. It's about a male teenager (he might be named Oliver, though I'm not sure), who's new to town (it's a small town, possibly set in Canada). He's seen as weird and cursed, because his family keeps experiencing bad luck (I think his dad is disabled because of that).

He befriends a young girl (I think her name's Kathleen), whose grandmother has an esoteric library/shop, and whose supposedly magic. To undo the guy's curse, they travel back in time to the Middle Ages.

I think they're getting friendly with the King or something, but there's an evil wizard who's interested in Oliver's magical potential, but gets his sights on Kathleen when she demonstrates her own magic (I think she turns arrows into feathers or something).

The guy displays his own magical prowess in a magical trial (one of the trials involve him rising his own temperature very high, so that the snakes that are trying to choke him will leave him alone).

At the end, they go back to their original timeline.

I don't remember any other details, except that the french cover book displayed Oliver as a blond boy with snakes on him.

Any luck maybe?

Thanks!

[Becca]

I think you're talking about Old Magic by Marianne Curley - one of my favourites when I was younger too! This might be the cover you remember:

[Lerena]

It's this one! Thank you so much! I'm gonna love being able to reread it again c:.