The Missing Series – Book 1 Found

FoundWritten By: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted and he’s never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who’s also adopted begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, “Beware! They’re coming back to get you.”
Jonah, Chip, and Jonah’s sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere – and people who seeem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip’s lives.
Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying?

Summary is from the back cover, provided by Simon and Schuster.

Mrs. Haddix is my absolute favorite author for young readers and this book is a great example!  Jonah, Chip, and Katherine each have bold and charismatic personalities that add tension and intense emotions to an already fast-paced and gripping mystery. As the series goes on, real historical people and their stories are used to begin each of the plots and I love Haddix’s approach to creating a fictional story around the parts of history that are still mysteries. This series is a must read!!

Discussion/Project Ideas:

1. The possibility of time travel has many different meanings for the characters in Found. If you could go backwards in time, where and when would you go? Why? Write a scene or story about what you think would happen while you are there. Add in as many sensory details as you can: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.

2. Writing about time travel is a tricky business. I am a fanatic about making sure authors don’t cheat or make mistakes when tell a story involving going to a different time. Make a detailed list about all the “rules” you think an author would have to plan for and consider when putting a character into a different time.

3. Choose a historical time period and pretend a person from that time got thrown into our present day. What would they love? What would they hate? What would they be thankful for? What would they fear? Write seven diary entries from his/her point of view about their experiences in the “future.”

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