Found (The Missing, book 1) - by Margaret P. Haddix

~ by Abrah

• 7 stars
• Ages 10 - 16
• Pages 314

I always claimed that I was a historical fiction girl, and all other types of fiction were out. But, Found definitely changed my perspective on books written for modern young people. By about chapter three of four I was totally hooked! I just couldn't put this book down. Found starts out seemingly normal, like it would go nowhere. Boy, is that a wrong impression!
Jonah knew for as long as he can remember that he was adopted, and that never made him feel different. Until, a white envelope with no return address arrived for him. The last thing he expected to find was a letter reading simply: "You are one of the missing."
Suddenly Jonah, and his new friend Chip realize that their lives are far from normal. I mean of course it is not possible to manipulate time, or take people from different centuries... right?? It seems Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister Katherine are about to find out that being adopted has much bigger implications for Jonah and Chip than for most, but it seems they are not alone in this realization! Is there anything more exciting than a time travel mystery story, with kid detectives?
Though most of the time I find the content hard to believe, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book. I guess that is really what fiction is about though. It doesn't need to be realistic! I think that is part of what is so loveable about his book. Nothing like this could ever happen, so nothing about this book is predictable.
Merriam - Webster dictionary describes thriller in this way: a novel, movie, etc., that is very exciting : a story full of exciting action, mystery, adventure, or suspense. I think if you ever found pictures in dictionaries Found would be right next to the definition for thriller! Nuff' said.

***

Negative Elements: (none best, 5 worst)

Violence - none
Profanity - none
Romance and Sexuality - none
Other - 2

• I was surprised by the low amount of negative elements in Found. The only really negative thing I could find was the low regard for parents. But, that to me is a big! I hate when in books parents are loving and caring, but somehow they are always in the way. I really didn't appreciate how the parents always over reacted to everything. Although the kids were usually respectful and loving, I think that was more of the fault of the author than the characters.   

The Missing series

Closing Comments:
If you look on the inside of the book you will see that it recommends this book for 8 to 12 year olds. Don't believe them! This book is really great for teens. In fact I was quite impressed at the quality and intensity!

PS. There is more from this series to come, both in books to be published and in reviews!