Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Science Fiction, Adventure

Age 10-13

Grade 5-8

377 pages, hardcover

c. 2010

            In Sabotaged, the 3^rd book in the Missing series, Jonas and Katherine are asked to help another “missing” child. This time it is Andrea, who is really Virginia Dare from the lost Roanoke colony in the 16^th century. As the title indicates someone has interfered with the mission in significant ways. Andrea is a complex, emotional character and in her rush to begin her mission they leave without the normal preparation. They expect to get directions once they arrive through the Elucidator, the futuristic device that allows them to communicate with JB. However during their transport the device is lost. Thus they arrive not knowing for sure what their location or time period is. Andrea is acting strangely and eventually it comes out that a strange man visited her before they left and she agreed to follow his directions, which included inserting a code he gave her in the Elucidator and throwing the device away. He promised her that by following his directions she would be able to go back to the time before her adopted parents died in a tragic car accident and save them. She now realizes that he lied to her.

            Due to the effects of the sabotaged mission the plot is more complicated than the previous book. Time and history are being tampered with and confusion results. Jonas, Katherine and Andrea see tracers of two native looking boys who aren’t there. They rescue a drowning man who turns out to be John White, Virginia Dare’s grandfather.  Later two boys from the 21^st century show up who belong to the native looking tracers. More puzzling is the lack of a tracer for Virginia, which should be there. Eventually they discover that a man who calls himself Second Chance has engineered events so he can recreate history the way he thinks it should be. He was the man who came to Andrea’s house before the mission. His plan was to reunite Virginia with John White which didn’t happen in history. Not only did he achieve that but he also released the time ripple which JB was trying to prevent. Now history and time are in a state of flux and the only hope that they all can return to the 21^st century is if Jonas and Katherine, who have been sent to the year 1611, can stabilize that time.

         

   In this book Haddix presents dramatic action, interesting historic details and thought provoking questions about choices and consequences and the rewriting of history. Because her books often provide much food for thought she is one of my favorite authors.

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Science Fiction, Adventure

Age 10-13

Grade 5-8

 313 pages, hardcover,

 c. 2009

            Sent is the 2^nd book in the Missing series. Found, the 1^st book,  sets up the situation of the missing children of history that have been kidnapped by some time agents from the future Their plan was to sell these famous children to parents in the future. Another group of time agents are trying to stop them and send these children back to their proper time in history. This will restore time and prevent “ripples” that could alter the present and the future.

            The following books in the series deal with different “missing” children. At the end of each book there is an author’s note in which Haddix gives the actual historical background of the events described. Each event has unresolved questions and Haddix does an excellent job of mixing the historical facts with the fiction. Each of the historical events is interesting in themselves and I think many of the readers will be prompted to do some research themselves.

            In Sent, Chip, who is really Edward V, rightful king of England and Alex, who is really Richard, Duke of York, his younger brother, along with Jonas and Katherine are sent back to the 15^th century. They have been promised by JB, time traveler, that if they can “fix time” he will allow them all to return to the 21^st century. However, according to “history” Edward and Richard died in the Tower of London and their uncle, Richard III became king of England. What really happened is that the boys vanished in 1483. Workmen renovating the Tower of London in 1674 found skeletons that were assumed to be the boys but in 1933 when scientists were given permission to study the skeletons they couldn’t tell if the bones were male or female.

            Jonas and Katherine manage to save Chip and Alex from being murdered in their sleep and with help from JB and another disguised time traveler also save them from being killed at the Battle of Bosworth. There are ghostly versions of the missing children called “tracers” which are only visible to the time travelers. They show what exactly happened in history. When the missing children merge with their tracers they become visible to those in that world. While they are merged they gain the historic figures memories and beliefs but are also able to maintain their own memories. They can separate from their tracers whenever they want but the longer they stay connected the more they become that historical person. Thus there were times when Chip was determined to fight his uncle and regain his crown.

            Alex, in the 21^st century,  is described as an agnostic but when he is merged with his tracer he expresses the Christian beliefs of Richard. Once back in the 21th century he has an interesting exchange with JB. "You believe in God?" Alex asked JB incredulously. "But you know how to travel through time. You're a scientist." He hesitated. "Aren't you?"
JB rolled his eyes.
"It amazes me how people of your time set up such a dichotomy between science and religion. Fortunately, that only lasts for another... well I can't tell you that ... But I assure you, the more I travel through time, the more I witness, the more I realize that there are things that are both strange and wonderful, far beyond human comprehension."

Galactic Derelict by Andre Norton

Galactic Derelict by Andre Norton

Science Fiction, Adventure

Age 11 and up

Grade 6 and up

192 pages, Hardcover 

c. 1959

      Galactic Derelict is the sequel to Time Traders. It can be found as a separate book but often it is combined with the first story. In my previous post on Time Traders I mentioned an updated 2000 combined edition but upon reading that volume I didn’t notice any updates.   

      Galactic Derelict continues with the characters of Ross Murdock and Ashe and introduces a new character, Travis Fox, an Apache rancher who stumbles upon a group of men from Operation Retrograde. Since this is a top secret project and Travis now knows too much he is offered a position on the team or being sent somewhere for a while to keep quiet. He chooses to become part of the team. Travis along with Ross and Ashe are sent back to prehistoric times to find an alien spaceship. They do find the ship but while trying to bring it into the present something triggers the ship to take off, carrying the three men and a technician named Renfry into space, destination unknown. The remainder of the story is their odyssey through space, over which they have no control. Their ship stops at three different places, each the remains of an alien civilization. The first stop is an abandoned refueling station where robots refuel their ship. The second and third stops are the remains of what once were advanced alien cities but are now occupied by animal like life forms with various degrees of intelligence, some friendly and some dangerous. 

      The beginning of the story has lots of action as the team faces mastodons, mammoths, sabretooth tigers and active volcanoes. The journey into space is more the building of suspense as each man copes with the long days trapped inside the ship, the threat of running out of food and fuel and the frustration of trying to figure out the workings of the alien ship. However there are times when they are fighting for their lives against hostile aliens on these worlds. Their greatest challenge remains finding a way to return to earth at the proper time without being shot down as an enemy ship.

     Norton has written several more books in this series which I don’t plan on writing on at this time. The titles are The Defiant Agents, Key Out of Time, Firehand, Echoes in Time and Atlantis Endgame.