What I've Seen . . .

People say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
But what do those words mean to a survivor who has just lost their entire family?
Does the orphan care? Does the widow feel uplifted?
I’ve seen children torn from their mothers, and wives separated from husbands,
Numerous lives upturned by the whims of others.
In the end, do they feel stronger?

I’ve seen families reunited,
Bonding together with loyalty and love, fighting for a common good.
Showing the world the beauty of their dignity and self-sacrifice.

I’ve seen homes destroyed, the weak plowed under, helpless in defense, treated as dogs.
Cultures lost to eternity. Never to see their moment in the sun again.
I’ve seen people die fighting for what they thought was right,
Only to have the following generation throw away what was so soundly earned.

I’ve seen people struggle to within an inch of their life,
Straining every fiber of their being simply to live. To press forward.
Desperate to make a better world for their children.
Desperate to pass on what they found so endearing from their own parents.

I’ve seen people driven to rage over beautiful things we now take for granted.
I’ve seen people grow beyond their wildest dreams, pushed to their brink to achieve the spectacular.

I’ve seen all this and more.
My name is Zammie Pineda, and I am a time traveler.

I've seen all this and more.
My name is Kyla Reynoso.
And I am a time traveler.

Time Trip: Killing for Country

Now available at Amazon

Adventure 1 Now Available in Paperback!

TIME TRIP

ADEVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO

ANCIENT GREECE

Now available in paperback 
at CreateSpace.com and Amazon.com!

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE SERIES AVAILABLE FOR KINDLE!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com! 

Our Protagonists

The two leads 
of our TIME TRIP series . . .

Zammie and Kyla are cousins who live just a few houses away from each other in a normal middle class neighborhood outside of Long Beach, California. Their mothers are sisters who emigrated from the island of Luzon in the Philippines a few years before having children. The two cousins both attend Rosemont Middle School.

portrayed by actor Robert Villar

Zamuel "Zammie" Pineda 
12 years old - 7^th grade

Both rational and curious, Zammie loves history and math. He is always searching for the most logical answer to any problem and is constantly questioning the world around him. He has grown up in a modern and advanced society filled with shopping malls, smartphones and abundant sushi shops. His parents have told him stories about their rough and tumble childhoods in the Philippines which makes Zammie grateful for his current life of opportunity. Still, he longs for the chances to "prove" himself as being more than just a soft city boy. Discovering the Arjuna statue and being able to travel far into the past has given Zammie the chances he craves to learn survival skills and test his endurance. 

portrayed by actress Barbara Miguel

Kyla Reynoso  

11 years old - 6^th grade

More emotional than her cousin, but just as inquisitive. Kyla is a believer in the supernatural, a music lover and can feel deep empathy for anyone she meets. She will often jump headfirst into situations without thinking if she feels there is someone who needs her help. She is not averse to hard work and is driven by the need to show she can pull her own weight as well or better than any boy.

Experience the past in a new and exciting way! 

Join Kyla and Zammie as they find their way through many of history's most famous, thrilling and frightening moments. 

All books are available for Kindle at Amazon.com at very low prices. Content is perfect for smart junior high readers and above, but beware, history isn't always pretty. 

Books range from 120-250 pages.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com! 

Zammie sees Kareena

There was a knock at the door. Everyone turned around to see Mr. G’s eighteen-year-old granddaughter Kareena entering with a tray of tea mugs. She had long charcoal hair that flowed down her back, and she wore a short royal blue dress that sparkled. Zammie’s mouth instantly dried up when he saw her.

          “Hello, everyone,” she said. “Grandma told me to bring you some chai.”

          “Yes, yes, our favorite,” said Mr. G. “Kareena, you’ve met Kyla and Zammie before, haven’t you?”

          “Yes, but the last time I saw you, you were both like six.”

Kyla smiled and took her mug of hot tea. “I think Zammie was seven.”

          “Oh, are you the older one, Zammie?”

Zammie could barely speak. Kareena’s hazelnut eyes were so bright and clear they looked like they had been manufactured by Pixar. “Yeah. I’m twelve now.”  She smelled of rose petals.

          “Don’t be too long, Grandpa, they’re going to be finished with dinner soon.”

          “Okay, we’ll be in shortly.”

Kareena turned back to the two cousins. “Good to see you two again.” She smiled politely.

          “You too, Kareena,” they both answered. Zammie was too embarrassed to look her in the eyes for more than a brief moment.

--Zammie sees Kareena

from Time Trip #4: Killing For Country

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Killing For Country - March 30th!

From Civil War to Civil Rights . . .

From a simple pistol to the atomic bomb . . .

TIME TRIP #4: KILLING FOR COUNTRY
 is a journey through history 
unlike anything you've ever read.

The latest installment in the Time Trip series will push the boundaries of historical adventure once again. 

Having already completed a handful of amazing trips through time, Zammie and Kyla will now be sent on an epic path across three continents where they will be pressed to the very brink of survival. 

From the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima to the Battle of Gettysburg to the night of Kristallnacht in Germany, our two adventurous cousins will see first hand the destructive power of war and the inspiring actions of the survivors attempting to rebuild their lives.

Thoroughly researched and brimming with tension, 
Killing For Country will leave readers both breathless and better informed on how three of history's most astounding and tragic events played out.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4: 

KILLING FOR COUNTRY

AVAILABLE MARCH 30!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com! 

Adventure 4: Killing for Country

"I thought dying for your country was the worst thing that could happen to you, and I don't think it is. I think killing for your country can be a lot worse. Because that's the memory that haunts."

--Senator Bob Kerrey, Vietnam Veteran

From Civil War to Civil Rights . . .

From a simple pistol to the atomic bomb . . .

TIME TRIP #4: KILLING FOR COUNTRY
 is a journey through history 
unlike anything you've ever read.

The latest installment in the Time Trip series will push the boundaries of historical adventure once again, sending Zammie and Kyla on an epic path across three continents as they experience the lead up, breaking point, and culmination of war and its impact on the children who have to live through it.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Adventure 4 Teaser

A journey through history unlike anything you've ever read.

The upcoming release in the TIME TRIP series will push the boundaries once again, sending Zammie and Kyla on an epic path across three continents as they experience the lead up, breaking point, and culmination of war and its impact on the children who had to live through it.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4: 

KILLING FOR COUNTRY

AVAILABLE MARCH 2013!

Adventure 3 Launch Day!

LAUNCH DAY!

Time Trip Adventure 3: 

Witness to the First Thanksgiving

Now available for Kindle at Amazon.com! 

Learn about the history surrounding one of our most treasured holidays through the eyes of young Zammie and Kyla as they travel back in time in search of what actually unfolded when the English Separatists first met a small group of Wampanoag Indians.

Experience both the suffering and the joy of the fledgling Plymouth settlement as the surviving families work themselves to near extinction in order to build their new home.

Spend time in a Native village deep within the forests west of Cape Cod where hunting is a way of life and peaceful relations must be developed with neighboring tribes in order to secure continued growth.

Let Zammie and Kyla be your guide as you'll journey with them through both the familiar and the unknown. 

Think you know everything about the First Thanksgiving?

Think again.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Arjuna in Action

Out in the hallway, Kyla had her ear pressed close to the door handle trying to listen. She could hear the grinding gears of the doll which meant that Zammie had let it unwind. She remembered the first time they did this that it only took a few seconds before they woke up outside on that hill in Greece. She continued to wait when she noticed a bright, white glow coming from underneath the door. She took a step back and watched the light grow stronger before it quickly flickered out.

          At that moment Kyla realized how quiet the house was. The only noise she heard was the subtle ticking of the large antique clock Zammie’s parents kept in the living room. The light from inside Zammie’s room had gone out so she decided to open the door. She cracked it open a couple inches and peered inside but every light in the room had gone out and she couldn’t see anything. The light switch had somehow been flipped down so she switched it back on and saw Zammie passed out on the bed. His feet were dangling towards the floor.

          Kyla walked up to him to get a better look. He appeared to be taking a nap.

          “He is just sleeping,” Kyla whispered to herself. “So it really is like a dream.”

          Kyla looked around the room to see if anything else looked out of place. Everything appeared as it had before. Nothing else had changed so Kyla was about to leave the room and let Zammie sleep until she noticed the Arjuna’s eyes were still glowing. Or had they just started glowing? The head of the Arjuna turned towards her. Its mouth curled into a grin.

          “What are you looking at?” Kyla asked the statue.

          She started to walk out of the room when the door slammed closed before she could reach it, trapping her inside. Before she could formulate another thought Kyla felt the room beginning to spin around her and a bright light appeared forcing her to close her eyes. She fell back onto the edge of the bed and lost consciousness with the two small almond-shaped red eyes of the Arjuna still staring straight at her.

-- The Arjuna in Action

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 2)

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Aztec Childhood

Royal procession from Goddess of Grass

The Aztecs had a highly complex social structure, where both formal and informal laws governed the life of the citizen from birth to death. A citizen of the empire was expected to live an obedient, ordered life in service of the state. A structured path was devised for them from the day they were born, to the day they died. This path is a fusion of rigorously ingrained customary law and brutally enforced statutory law.

In the years prior to the Spanish Conquest, Mexica (pronounced something similar to meh-shee-ka) children went to a local school known as the telpochcalli. Here they were taught basic occupational skills, basics of warfare, and civics as well as history and religion.  Boys and girls attended different schools.

Some Macehualtin (merchant class) children who were gifted and talented got sent to a calmecac.  The calmecac was also where children of noble birth, the Pilli, went to school and it was run by priests who taught government and the all-important religious concepts.  At the calmecac students also learned Aztec history, astronomy, letters, and poetry.

Boys went to the calmecac when they reached age 15.  If they did not attend this school, then they went to the cuicacalli, which was a junior military academy.  All of the boys were trained in war and there was heated rivalry between different academies that often led to fights.  While there were several professions open to non-working-class men, including priest, bureaucrat, and doctor, the life of a warrior won the most glory.

Aztec girls received more home schooling than boys.  They began learning to weave at age four and to cook at age 12.  Female education was more or less preparation for marriage, but noble girls spent a year when they were 12 or 13 attending the priestesses in the temple; some would go on to become professional priestesses.

-- from Aztec History

Aztec boys at school listening to their teacher.

Time Trip Adventure 1 

The Journey to Ancient Greece 

PDF available FREE here!  

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!     

Mini Adventures Arriving Soon!

Arriving soon to this website . . .

TIME TRIP Mini Adventures!

The TIME TRIP Mini Adventures are short stories that follow the continuing travels of Kyla and Zammie as they are transported to an array of different moments in history.

These short stories will be distributed freely on this website with the first volume arriving later this week.

The next full-length book, Adventure 3: The Conquest of Mexico will be arriving this fall!

In the meantime continue to check back at this site often for our daily sample and image updates.

Time Trip Adventure 1 

The Journey to Ancient Greece 

PDF available FREE here!  

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!   

Facebook Fan Page!

Visit the Time Trip Facebook Fan Page today to Like us and keep up with news about the books, and view images and artwork dealing with culture, history, food, and entertainment!

Adventure 2 Now Available!

TIME TRIP

ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Now available at Amazon.com!

Arjuna Revisted

Ramesh came back into the house. He walked over to where the children were eating and placed a metal figurine of an ancient soldier with six arms on the table. The figure stood about a foot tall, and the arms were jointed and bendable. Two of the arms were holding an elaborate bow and arrow.
“Wow!” said Zammie.
“What is that, Ramesh?” asked Zammie’s mother.
“It’s an old Arjuna doll,” answered Ramesh. “Arjuna was a great warrior, a wise student, and he had an amazing gift for concentration.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Kyla.
“It means he was good at paying attention,” said Zammie.
“That’s right,” said Ramesh. “Figures like this were thought to help the children of India with their studies or their training, but that was a long time ago. I’m not sure if anyone really believes in Arjuna anymore. But this doll also has historical importance so I thought Zammie might like it.”
Ramesh pressed all six of Arjuna’s arms down to its side then twisted the figure at its waist. When he let go, the gears began to turn causing the arms to move around like tentacles.
“Cool!” said Zammie. “You’re giving this to me?”
“Sure. It’s supposed to help children learn about history,” said Ramesh. “It helped me do well in school when I was a boy. Maybe it will help you too.”

-- Zammie receives the Arjuna 

from Time Trip #1 

 (Kindle Locations 196-209, 215-220).

The multi-armed goddess Durga

Hindu deities are often portrayed with multiple arms, especially when they are battling cosmic forces. The multiplicity of arms emphasizes the deity's immense power and ability to perform several acts at the same time. The portrayal of a deity in human form but with multiple arms is the artist's attempt to express the deity's superhuman power. Demons are frequently depicted with multiple heads to convey their superhuman power as well.
From The Asian Art Museum. 

Although the Arjuna of Hindu tradition was not worshiped as a god, in the Time Trip universe, the doll that Ramesh brings to Zammie combines several features from the legends including the bow and arrow of the warrior prince and the multiple arms of the Hindu deities. 

And somewhere, somehow, this doll was was also given the power to transport those it deemed worthy on magical adventures across time. How it can do this and for what purpose we will have to wait to find out in future volumes of the series.

Statue of Arjuna in Bali, holding the famous bow called the Gāndeeva.

The eighteenth chapter of the Mahabharata: The Bhagvad Gita or The Song of God tells the story of the God Krishna, the embodiment of divine love, as he instructs Arjuna, who represents mankind. Krishna describes skill in action, presenting it as a practical discipline, suitable for all people, a middle way that avoids the extravagances of asceticism on one hand, and sensuality on the other.

The content of the The Bhagvad Gita is the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna which took place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma about fighting his own cousins, Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and a prince. During the discourse, Lord Krishna reveals his identity as the Supreme Being Himself (Svayam Bhagavan), blessing Arjuna with an awe-inspiring vision of his divine universal form.

Krishna acts as Arjuna's charioteer as they ride into battle.

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!  

Launch Day: Uprising

Launch day is here. 

Our view of history will never be the same. 

About this book series . . .

Time Trip is an ebook series available for Kindle on Amazon.com. It's geared for young adult readers (ages 12 and up) but can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The stories follow the time traveling adventures of middle school students Kyla and Zammie as they bare witness to many of history's most amazing, inspirational, and terrifying moments.


Journey with them as they see the conquest of Mexico at the hands of Hernán Cortés, as they help with the rebuilding of a shattered home in Japan after the falling of a nuclear bomb, and as they ride on the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman.


The Time Trip series strives to offer two things to its readers:

1. A rich understanding of history that is well-researched and engaging.
2. Relentless adventure that delivers stories with the humor, excitement, tension, and wonder that human history deserves.

The complete Adventure 1: The Journey to Ancient Greece is now available in PDF format as a FREE download. In this volume Kyla and Zammie help a young Athenian farm boy track down his enslaved sister in 480 B.C. just before the second Persian invasion.


Be entertained while learning something along the way. Feel free to post thoughts, questions, or suggested subject ideas on this blog or on the Facebook fan page.


Also be sure and follow author Jason McKenney on Twitter.


With each adventure, we believe this series will continue to evolve into something very special, and we hope you'll stay along for the ride.