I'm going to put my review up here so that one does not have to read through the spoilers to get to it.
I love these books. I love how there is a bit of history to them (though Torn is not always accurate) and that at the end of the book the author tells a little about the time and the "missing" doomed child.
I can't wait to read the fifth book and then I will anxiously await the next in the Missing series. While I wait, I think I will be picking up some more of her books.
Sabotage and Torn are books three and four in The Missing series. I recommend reading the other books before reading this review.
In Sabotage, Jonah and Katherine are sent back to 1603 with Andrea aka Virginia Dare to help fix time. Unfortunately Amanda had been enticed by a strange man who told her if she messed with the Elucidator she would be able to save her parents who were killed in a car accident. The kids end up in the wrong place and maybe in the wrong time.
Once landed they find tracers all over, but not Andrea's. Jonah and Katherine are concerned about messing up time as each set they take may set off a chain reaction, but their bigger problem is the two light skinned- Native American looking tracers who don't seem to have humans to go with them. The kids must follow the tracers and try to recreate their moves in order to not change history.
STOP READING HERE TO AVOID SPOILERS
The kids discover that Andrea's mystery man calls himself Second and is trying to give second chances to those in history. Andrea meets her grandfather and his fate is changed, changing all time after. But Second doesn't anticipate time collapsing on itself in a way that may just end it all...
Leaving the others behind, Jonah and Katherine are pulled out of 1603 and bounce through time landing in 1611 on board the Discovery, Henry Hudson's ship. They must fix 1611 in order to keep time from ending, but the missing child, John Hudson, is no wear to be found and even scarier is that there are no tracers showing the original events.
Jonah must disguise himself as John and hope he doesn't do something that causes time to cease.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Sent is the second book in the Missing Children series by Margaret Haddix. If you haven't read Found, the next couple of lines may be spoilers.
Found ended with the missing children stuck in a cave that was not in time. JD is determined to send the children wrongly pulled from time back to their correct time period. Just as he aims the Elucidator at the Chip, Jonas and Katherine grab Chip and are transported back in time with him.
Sent begins with the children being transported back in time; to Chip's real time and real identity...Edward the V of England, King Edward that is. Joining them is Alex, aka Richard, Edward's little brother and prince. JD gives the four children the opportunity to correct the time that was displaced with the kidnappings of Chip and Alex. If they succeed, the boys may return to the current time and live the rest of their lives as Chip and Alex. If they fail, they will meet the same fate as Edward and Richard...presumably death.
I love the way Haddix writes. She stays fairly true to historical accuracy while still taking some artistic liberty. This second book is not as suspenseful as the first, but it kept me turning the pages. I read the book in two nights and started the third. For me, that is the true measure of a series...reading the next book right away or being disappointed that there isn't another book to read.
I'd recommend this to kids (probably 5th or 6th grade and up) and those who like younger fiction and/or historical based fiction.
Found ended with the missing children stuck in a cave that was not in time. JD is determined to send the children wrongly pulled from time back to their correct time period. Just as he aims the Elucidator at the Chip, Jonas and Katherine grab Chip and are transported back in time with him.
Sent begins with the children being transported back in time; to Chip's real time and real identity...Edward the V of England, King Edward that is. Joining them is Alex, aka Richard, Edward's little brother and prince. JD gives the four children the opportunity to correct the time that was displaced with the kidnappings of Chip and Alex. If they succeed, the boys may return to the current time and live the rest of their lives as Chip and Alex. If they fail, they will meet the same fate as Edward and Richard...presumably death.
I love the way Haddix writes. She stays fairly true to historical accuracy while still taking some artistic liberty. This second book is not as suspenseful as the first, but it kept me turning the pages. I read the book in two nights and started the third. For me, that is the true measure of a series...reading the next book right away or being disappointed that there isn't another book to read.
I'd recommend this to kids (probably 5th or 6th grade and up) and those who like younger fiction and/or historical based fiction.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Persisting through Catch-22
I've read good things about this book. It is on high school reading lists (not saying that only good books are on there, but...), considered a classic, one of the great satires of the 20th century, is a jeopardy clue. It even spawned a catch phrase that is used today.
I had high hopes. I was excited to read Catch-22. And then I started.
Admittedly, I'm not very far into the book. I have struggled to want to read it and the pages are turning quickly when I do pick it up. That being said, I am just not into it. I don't find it to be humorous and I don't find it to be appealing.
I haven't read nearly as much this February as I did in January. I was just stuck on Catch-22.
So today, I put it aside and started (and will probably finish) a young adult book by Margaret Haddix called Sent.
Reading shouldn't be a chore unless you are taking a class. Reading should be fun, relaxing, informative...
So I took a break.
Now I am not saying I am giving up on the book completely. I've started it and damn it, I am going to finish. It is now my own personal challenge to finish Catch-22.
I had high hopes. I was excited to read Catch-22. And then I started.
Admittedly, I'm not very far into the book. I have struggled to want to read it and the pages are turning quickly when I do pick it up. That being said, I am just not into it. I don't find it to be humorous and I don't find it to be appealing.
I haven't read nearly as much this February as I did in January. I was just stuck on Catch-22.
So today, I put it aside and started (and will probably finish) a young adult book by Margaret Haddix called Sent.
Reading shouldn't be a chore unless you are taking a class. Reading should be fun, relaxing, informative...
So I took a break.
Now I am not saying I am giving up on the book completely. I've started it and damn it, I am going to finish. It is now my own personal challenge to finish Catch-22.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The Giver by Lois Lowry
In a future time things are different than they are today. People are the same. There is no real identity, no conflict. Children are referred to as ages and at specific ages they all get the same thing and the Twelves receive what will be their job for their life.
Jonas doesn't get a job, he gets a calling. He will be the holder of the truth, of the memories, of the way things were before. The Giver currently holds all these memories and slowly hands them over to Jonas. He experiences sledding on a cold winter day, the sun, colors...things that do not exist in his current world.
Feelings, colors, joy, and pain are hard for Jonas to contain inside himself and he begins to believe that perhaps his society isn't as great as he had believed it to be.
The Giver is a decent book. It isn't a 5 or even 4 star type of book. The author seems to be vague as to not have to give too many details or create characters. You need to have a pretty strong imagination to follow this book.
I can tell if I love a book or not if, when done reading the first in a series, I am clamoring to read the second. That didn't happen with this book. While I will probably read the second one in the series, I am in no hurry at this time.
Jonas doesn't get a job, he gets a calling. He will be the holder of the truth, of the memories, of the way things were before. The Giver currently holds all these memories and slowly hands them over to Jonas. He experiences sledding on a cold winter day, the sun, colors...things that do not exist in his current world.
Feelings, colors, joy, and pain are hard for Jonas to contain inside himself and he begins to believe that perhaps his society isn't as great as he had believed it to be.
The Giver is a decent book. It isn't a 5 or even 4 star type of book. The author seems to be vague as to not have to give too many details or create characters. You need to have a pretty strong imagination to follow this book.
I can tell if I love a book or not if, when done reading the first in a series, I am clamoring to read the second. That didn't happen with this book. While I will probably read the second one in the series, I am in no hurry at this time.
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