Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer (2006)

This is the first book of The Time Traveler's trilogy. Peter Schock lives in current day London, and has a busy father who never has time for him, his mother is working on a film in Hollywood. He goes off to the the country with his nanny where he meets Kate Dyer, who's father is a scientist and they both get accidentally transported to 1763 by an anti-gravity machine. There they meet the nasty Tar Man, who takes off with their machine. Luckily Gideon Seymour sees them appear and takes care of them, taking them to a well of family - the Byngs. Gideon is an interesting character, having been saved from hanging for stealing some food by Lord Luxon, for whom he becomes a trusting servant and cutpurse for a while. He is escaping from Luxon by taking a position with the Byngs, when he runs into Peter and Kate. He tries to help them to get back their machine and get back to their own century, encountering highway men and all sorts of obstacles on the way.

So it is basically an adventure story where two current day kids get thrown into the 18th century and get the history lesson of their lives. I always like historical details of everyday life - the sights, sounds and smells, such as the fact that no one, including the rich, bathed much back then, so everybody had an odor about them. A fun read to counteract a heavy book I am reading. Maybe I will read the rest of the trilogy, maybe not.