Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Torn by Margeret Peterson Haddix

Science Fiction, Adventure

Age - 10-13

Grade - 6-8

344 pages, hardcover

c. 2011

     Torn is the 4^th book in The Missing Series. The basic premise of the series is that important children from history have been kidnapped, by time travelers from the future, at the point right before they disappeared or died. The plan was to bring them into the future as babies to be adopted by wealthy parents. This has disrupted history and time so Jonas and Katherine have been working to return the missing children to their proper time in history and restore time. However, beginning in the last book and continuing in this one a new element has been added. The villain, Second Chance, is changing history to suit his own ideas and this has disrupted time so much that it is near collapsing. This would result in the end of all things, past, present and future. Due to what Second did in the last book, Sabotaged, time traveler J.B., and missing children Andrea, Brendan and Antonio are trapped in 1600.

                Jonas and Katherine find themselves on the deck of Henry Hudson’s ship the Discovery just before a mutiny takes place. The boy from history that they are trying to help, John Hudson, Henry Hudson’s son, is missing so J.B. instructs Jonas to impersonate him with the help of a special costume from the future. Katherine is instructed to use the Eucidator to become invisible. They realize, early on, that history has been dramatically changed. Henry Hudson has a map that he shouldn’t have, showing the Northwest Passage that now exists. Second Chance is responsible for all of this and unless Jonah and Katherine help him all time will end in 1611. Second’s plan is to send Jonah and Katherine back to their first moments on Hudson’s ship and to have them do things differently this time. Without precise instructions Jonah decides to try and save the sailor Wydowse from being murdered by Second. As John Hudson Jonah challenges Hudson’s authority and insists they leave the small shallop they have been put in during the mutiny and go to the winter cabin they had used last year. When they do this time is literally torn apart and there are now two separate versions of time. One version is the current one and the second is how things went the first time Jonah and Katherine were there. However, only Jonah and Katherine can see the two versions of time. Eventually they also see the traces of the sailors from original time before they came. When the sailors merge with their tracers time in 1611 is restored.

            Time outside of 1611 has been so damaged by the actions of Second that JB, Andrea, Brendan and Antonio, from the previous book, are still stuck in 1600. Only a heroic and self-sacrificing action by Jonah will enable them to escape.

The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen

The Runaway King by Jennifer Nielsen

adventure

ages 10-13

grades 5-8

231 pages - hardcover

c. 2013

            The Runaway King is the second book in The Ascendance Trilogy. The first book, The False Prince, was blog posted on May 5, 2019. This is one of my favorite trilogies due to the exciting plot action, including many plot twists, the depth and complexity of the characters and the clear contrast between those characters who exhibit moral qualities and those who do not.

            This book begins with Jaron restored to his throne as King of Carthya but with almost no support from his regents or the people. He is still viewed as the mischievous and undisciplined child that his parents sent away from the court. There is also an attempt on his life and the threat of war. For all these reasons the regents want to appoint a steward to rule until Jaron is older. He is only 15 at this time.

            Jaron, of course, finds this totally unacceptable even as he pretends to agree. Thus begins a fast paced adventure filled with much sword play, betrayals, disguises, pirates, daunting odds and several death-defying escape attempts. There is also self- sacrifice, great loyalty among friends, amazing determination and resourcefulness, and humor. Jaron, who is the narrator, has a quick wit and a love for sarcasm. This can be seen in the following quote. “All I could hope was that they gave me a chance to speak before they killed me. Although as I thought about it, it was usually only after I began speaking that most people felt like murdering me."

            Jaron has matured since the first book. He can still be sarcastic and deliberately annoy people but his motive in doing so now is to keep them from danger and harm. He still has traces of his old tendency to be flippant, arrogant and condescending at times but at his core he is courageous, self-sacrificing and determined to do the right things and promote justice for his people. He exhibits the characteristics of a true hero. Jaron has many reasons to hate Devlin, the pirate king. He tried to kill Jaron when his parents sent him away from court and was responsible for the most recent attempt on his life. However, when Jaron realizes how anger and hatred has consumed Devlin he makes a promise to himself not to become like him and resists the opportunity to kill him. “Except for his anger, he was completely empty. It was much of the same kind of anger that I had felt for far too long, and it horrified me…But if that choice meant I’d become anything like Devlin…I refused to become him.” Jaron also has the ability to see the potential good in people and to change some former enemies into loyal friends.

The supporting characters are also well drawn and many of them also exhibit strong moral qualities. Mott once worked for Connor but when he realized that Sage was really prince Jaron he risked his life for him more than once. Imogen and Tobias become loyal, self-sacrificing friends of Jaron and Master Harlowe is described as “the best possible master” by his servants. Harlowe is just, generous and forgiving with Jaron who at one point rescues his granddaughter and on another occasion comes with pirates to rob him.

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.

           

            

    

           

            

          

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Science Fiction, Adventure

Age 10-13

Grade 5-8

Pages 314, paperback

c. 2008

              Found is the first book in an eight book series dealing with famous children that died sometime in history. By time travel they have accidentally been brought into the 21^st century. One group’s plan, the Interchronological Rescue, was to travel back in time and bring these children into the future to be adopted by parents willing to pay a lot a lot of money for a famous child. To avoid trauma they used age reversal and brought the children into the future as babies. However bringing so many children from the past into the future caused ripples. This resulted in significant changes that could alter the present and the future.  Another group, led by JB, was trying to correct this time problem and bring the children back into their original time in history.

            Found opens when an unexpected plane arrives at an airport. Inside the plane are babies but no crew. Once the babies are taken off the plane it disappears. The babies are given to different adoption agencies and eventually adopted by families. All is well for thirteen years but then mysterious, unsigned letters start appearing in the mailboxes of the adopted children. “You are one of the missing.” “Beware! They’re coming back to get you.” Suddenly Jonas, and his new friend Chip, find their normal lives turned upside down. Getting any information about their adoptions proves very difficult but they are very persistent and clever and do manage to find out quite a lot. However it is only at the very end of the book that they discover they are the missing children of history.

            This is a suspenseful, action-and-adventure science fiction story. As the story progresses you are often faced with plot twists and cliff hangers that keep you turning the pages. Jonas, Chip and Jonas’s younger sister Katherine work together to gather information and support each other. Katherine is not adopted but despite normal sibling teasing really cares about her brother. The book ends with all the missing children trapped in a cave and faced with the choice of either being sent into the future or back into history, where it is possible that they may die. In either case they will be turned into babies again and forget the life they have known for thirteen years. During  a physical struggle over a time device in which JB is attempting to send a boy named Alex and Chip back to the the 15th century, Jonas and Katherine grab onto Chip and are sent back as well. 

            Margaret Peterson Haddix has a knack for coming up with interesting and unusual storylines. I have read many of her books and have liked them. I have read the entire Missing series and plan on blogging on all the books, probably in groups of two. Besides being filled with lots of action they also contain a lot of historical information. Some of the missing children include Virginia Dare, first child born of English parents in the Americas who vanished with the rest of Roanoke Colony, the British princes who vanished from the Tower of London in 1483, Anastasia and Alex, the two youngest children of Czar Nicholas II who disappeared during the Russian Revolution, and the kidnapped Lindbergh baby.