On a sunny day in 1974, the Fitzgerald siblings learn their parents have died in a tragic accident. Devastated, the children are sent to a boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall -- the same boarding school their father and John F. Kennedy went to when they were younger, their aunt tells them. Athletic, popular, football star, Ken is the eldest Fitzgerald, and suddenly burdened with the responsibility of caring for his three younger siblings. Deb, a year younger, prefers books and the library to socializing, drawn to history and archaeology and hoping to find her way in Choate's structured order. Joe is racked with sorrow over his parents' deaths and determined to find a way to either get them back or make them proud. Kim, the youngest, is only ten years old and just trying to make new friends and keep close to her sister and brothers. When Joe finds an elaborate math problem and solved it, with the help of the reclusive caretaker, Mr. Brewster, the Fitzgerald's discover they have unlocked the secrets of bending time and time travel. Together, they devise a plan to go back in time, change a pivotal moment in US history, and impact their parents' lives in the hopes of stopping the terrible accident that brought them to boarding school. Along the way they face looming spiritual and moral questions, while finding their way toward closeness and a path through their grief. With shades of the C.S. Lewis's Pevensie siblings and the wonder of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, JB Yanni's Time Benders and the Machine is a time traveling adventure full of heart and soul.