What do You think about The Trolley To Yesterday (2004)?
One of my favorite Bellairs books, this and Eyes of the Killer Robot were what finally got me to pay attention to whiney ol' Johnny Dixon and his curmudgeonly friend 'Prof' and Fergie. Who never chooses not to use the phrase "Johnny-baby". Even in 50s Michigan that wouldn't fly. ...anyway, the Professor has been acting unusual, because he's found a time-traveling trolley-car that goes to, among other uninteresting places, Constantinople! In the year 1453! Wikipedia this information. Veerry interesting, hmm?Well, for those of you reading this book past the age of ten there isn't much about that, more about evil Inquisition monks, penitent crusader ghosts and euro-centrism. But, I got very interested in history in part because of this book, so I'm willing to cut it a lot of slack.
—Myles
those splendid moments of youth, spent in utter awe of the discovery of worlds seemingly more extravagant then our own, is amongst the most precious of gifts. it can only serve the soul in a most profound and deserving way to reread the books of our adolescence.after being unable to locate this for many years, a dear friend sent me an ex-library copy (with touching gift inscription) for the holidays. it has been the better part of two decades since i last thumbed its pages. my sense of the magic & joy within may very well be an overestimation (reading it now as an adult, that is), but rereading it may, more importantly, conjure the more authentic/realized individual one was likely to be in their youth. the trolley to yesterday, its title only struck me this very moment.
—jeremy
I remember loving the incredibly spooky Bellairs books I read as a kid, all from the Louis B. series, but I never read any others, so I don't know how spooky or scary a kid would find this one, or whether I'd find those other books spooky now. The book had a slow start and I almost put it down. It did get more exciting but it was choppy, and would probably be hard to follow for a kid who didn't know the relevant history, which would include the Crusades, the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, the 1890s, and the 1950s. I'm curious how the books I remember so fondly will seem to me now, but also a little afraid, on the basis of this book, to try them and be disillusioned.
—Elizabeth
