The year is 2013. Sixteen-year-old Joe Dalton receives an old presentation from his science teacher from the 1930s. He discovers its contents reveal a proposed theory of time travel. Could it be? Joe asks himself? Then disappointment sets in: the device described can't be found in the presentation. Undaunted, Joe searches libraries and art galleys before finding and almost identical device in the local museum.
Should I? Joe asks himself. With a quick look around to make sure no one is watching, Joe slips the device underneath his jacket. I'm only borrowing it, he tells himself.
Once outside the museum, Joe slips around the back, and carefully programs it based on his teacher's presentation. After he finishes the last step, everything goes black.
When Joe finally wakes up, he has no recollection of what happened. But when he glances around, his surroundings remind him of the 1930s. After befriending a young boy named Alan, he slowly begins to remember aspects of his life such as his name, his parents, and his birthday all decades in the future.
How will Joe get home? What will he face in his new circumstances? Will Alan turn out to be a true friendor turn against him?