Book Description

Life is idyllic for four rural Indiana teenagers until one of them, Maggie, moves to New York City with her parents in this time-warp yarn set in 1926 and 1984. When Maggie's three friends hop a boxcar to visit her in New York, their journey takes a mystical turn, catapulting them to the year 1984 and, eventually, back again. On their return to 1926, they try to manipulate events in their favor, only to find that "time" is a fickle chronicler of events -- which wreaks havoc with their best intentions.

Maggie is very happy and carefree in 1926 when her father gets a dream investment job and moves from a farm in Cobbler's Eddy, Indiana to New York City. Maggie's three friends jump a boxcar to go visit her. They get locked in the boxcar and end up arriving in 1984 just as Maggie is retiring from her job as an office manager in an insurance company, although they feel only a few days have passed.

Maggie's Dad made a fortune and lost a fortune in the stock market crash and Maggie's life was not as idyllic as she would of wished for. John D. Husband relates Maggie's life, telling the reader what has happened until her retirement at the age of 74.

Maggie teaches her friends about the changes that have occurred in the intervening years and then decides to return 'home'. The three boys jump off the train to make the return journey shorter and even 74 year old Maggie does, catapulting her back to 1926. Maggie is once again the sweet 16 year old girl. Will history repeat itself or can it be changed? How will Maggie get anyone to believe in her fantastical journey?

I thoroughly loved this book. It is a charming, delightful story. This is a great debut novel and I will look forward to the next

Reading now!

Maggie lives in a small farm town in Indiana where everyone knows each other. Her three best friends spend as much time having fun as they do completing their chores. Alfie, one of her friends, has a gift of premonition and the sense of what will happen in the future. Once they jump on then off a boxcar that goes through their town, Alfie has a premonition that they will be doing something similar in the future.

Once Maggie finds out that her dad has given up a life in New York, she realizes that her time at Cobbler's Eddy may be coming to an end. Her father gets his note from New York just in time and Maggie's entire family ends up moving to New York, never to return to Indiana again.

But Maggie can't forget her friends that easily. She writes them and asks them to visit her ASAP. Three boys hop on a box car and ride to New York. However, after a week, there's no news from them. Everyone thinks they are lost, and after more time, it is believed that they are dead. Maggie is heartbroken. She goes through life in a sort of daze until one day, three boys from her past show up.

This book is a charming book, as are the characters. Combining the easy times of the late 1920s with the much faster times of the 1980s was interesting. How would you ever be able to explain to someone from 1920 how much the world has changed by 1980? This was a nice, short, enjoyable book!

This book is back with me

mailed today to Azuki who won it in a NG swap

Glad to win this interesting title in the swap, after some fights.
Love time-travelling story and this one sounds promising. Thanks!!

Gosh, did I seriously have this book for so long? No way...

I enjoy the tale more than I expected. Husband did a great job portraying life in a rural small town, and Tom and Maggie are really alive as 16 year-olds. Not as good a job regarding the few months they spend in New York, it feels a bit rushed and unrealistic. Nonetheless, overall it's a delightful read. It's also interesting how the second time around, things don't just get repeated but subtly changed.

Left in book basket near back door.

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