The Sun, the Moon and Maybe the Trains

by Rodney Jones

• Publish Date: 2012
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

This book was unlike anything I have read before, an interesting mix of the historical and the contemporary.  The characters were so different from one another, the contrast keeping the dynamic between them interesting and often funny.  Their interaction truly showed the difference 134 years can make in a society.

John Bartley was a nice guy from 1875 Vermont.  Tess McKinnon is smart girl from 2009 Vermont.  The two should never have crossed paths, but when John somehow stumbles from his time into hers.  He is alone and confused, and more than a little scared by the new world he has found himself in.  I loved his character as the narrator, seeing the modern world through the eyes of someone like him.  The very things that we take for granted are amazing, and often shocking, to John.  Cars, phones, clothing, even the fact that Tess shaves her legs!  Tess is confronted with this guy and she wonders if he is a tad nuts in his conviction that he is from another time.  But eventually she comes to realize that he is not crazy at all.

I loved the interaction between them.  John, the quiet and reserved guy from a different time with different sociocultural values.  Tess, the modern and contemporary girl with modern values.  Their worlds are so different and sometimes those differences are a source of amusement or amazement, sometimes the source of judgment and misunderstanding.

There are some great moments in this book, moments of sadness and delight and fear and even some frustration.  There were some twists and turns and some good anticipation that kept me reading.  And the ending was a lovely bit of a cliffhanger that made me immediately reach for the next book, All the Butterflies in the World.

My Recommendation:  This was a great read unlike anything Ive read before!

[stressedrach]

The Sun, The Moon and Maybe The Trains was read I will not be forgetting in a hurry. John Bartley was a really nice lad, from 1875 that happened to hear a noise in the woods and went to investigate only to be thrown into 2009. He was alone and scared and wanted to go home to Greendale. Fortunately he met Tess a girl from 2009. Ok she thought he was weird at first but then started believing that John really was from 1875 and helped him find the woods and go back to his own time.

The relationship between Tess and John was so sweet and innocent, John was a proper gentleman and he did make me laugh especially when Tess came to him with her legs bare and SHAVED! Of course people in 1875 covered themselves up and never shaved their legs.

I could see that a love would blossom between them but wondered how because they were both from different times but Tess manages to travel into 1875 to warn John of a fire in Greendale, but she can;t pass back to her own time.

There were tense times in the book, some sadness, some delight and some bits has me thinking oh my god nooo.

I really enjoyed the book and could not put it down. A fantastic read and very well written.