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.