July 1, 2010
Gr 5–9—-his volume picks up immediately where book two left off, with Jonah, Katherine, and Andrea going to the time period when Andrea was kidnapped. She is Virginia Dare, the first English child to be born in the ill-fated Roanoke Colony. During their time journey, the Elucidator is lost, and the children arrive not certain as to where or "when"they are. Jonah pieces together that Andrea deliberately lost the Elucidator, and she admits she was following the directive of a mystery man who promised that she could stop her 21st-century parents from dying in a car crash if she did what he said. Unsure of what they've been sent back to do, the children decide to try to find the inhabitants of the colony. Along the way they save the life of Andrea's 16th-century grandfather, and she feels more and more that she is supposed to stay with him. Familiarity with the first two books is a must, and even then, this story is somewhat confusing. The integration of background material is not consistently clear, so unless readers have studied the history of the Roanoke Colony, they may not understand what is going on. This plodding novel is plot driven; there is little character development and there are no new hints as to Jonah's historical identity. Readers are told that the group will next go into the 17th century, but they may not have the patience to follow.—"Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI"
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 1, 2010
Grades 5-8 Thirteen-year-old Jonah and his younger sister Katherine are sent back in time to try to help Virginia Dare, but their task is complicated when two additional lost-in-time children suddenly appear, and they discover that someone is tampering with the mission. Haddix skillfully weaves her story around a popular historical mystery (the Roanoke Colony), and the result will please returning readers of the Missing series; new ones can also plunge right in, although a few references will go over their heads. An authors note provides the few facts known about Roanoke and its missing settlers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2011
Jonah and Katherine (Found, Sent) time-travel to Roanoke to restore Andrea to her original identity as Virginia Dare. But sabotage lands them in an unknown year, and they find themselves unsure if it's best to live out events as they first occurred. As the text raises worthwhile questions about the nature of historical record, the characters lend emotional depth to the past.
(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)