Found
(The Missing series, Book 1)
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Simon & Schuster
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
***+
DESCRIPTION: 13-year-old Jonah always knew he was adopted, but never thought to wonder about his birth parents until he received the letter. In a plain envelope,
without a return address, it claimed he was one of the "Missing." He brushes it off as a bad prank - he is, after all, in seventh grade, and some of his classmates can be
jerks - but then a second note arrives: "Beware! They're coming back to get you!" When his best friend Chip, who never knew he was adopted, receives the same letter, it
suddenly isn't funny anymore.
While Chip becomes obsessed with digging for answers, joined by Jonah's younger sister Katherine (a sixth-grade pain who never lets go of whatever she's sunk her teeth into),
Jonah himself wants nothing to do with it... not even when the trail leads them to the FBI, a government conspiracy, altered realities, and many more adopted children, all
living in the same area. Unlike Chip, he always had a happy home; he doesn't want to be part of what sounds more and more like a bad Hollywood thriller. But, even if Jonah
won't search for the truth, that won't stop the terrible truth from finding him.
REVIEW: I found Haddix's Shadow Children books (the two I read, at least) reasonably entertaining, so when I found this book clearance-priced, I figured it'd be worth a try. Jonah started out a reasonable protagonist, but I soon tired of his willful ignorance; if the reader's window to the world deliberately keeps closing the blinds because it doesn't want to see what's outside, it doesn't make for a great reading experience. The plot advances in spite of, not because of, his actions; both Chip and Katherine make far more interesting characters, investing themselves fully in the mystery. Maybe it's because of this, but the clues to the conspiracy feel random and more than a little convenient to the plot. The last 80-odd pages compensate by moving almost too quickly, concluding by hurtling the reader off the edge of a cliffhanger. The ending, at least, pulled things together reasonably, with enough originality for the extra half-star in the ratings. Overall, Found read fast, and I've killed afternoons in far worse books.
You might also enjoy:
Devil's Race (Avi, YA Fiction - A boy unearths a dark family secret when he meets an evil ancestor's ghost)
Wolf Rider (Avi, YA Fiction - A troubled boy receives a chilling phone call from a stranger, confessing to a murder that hasn't happened yet)
Sky Coyote (Kage Baker, Fiction - A future company uses immortal cyborg agents to manipulate history for profit)
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury, YA Fiction - Two boys discover a dark secret behind a train carnival visiting their town)
Wish You Were Here (Rita Mae Brown, Fiction - Morbid postcards precede mysterious murders in a small Southern town)
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand, Fiction - Two FBI agents investigate a global conspiracy to hide the presence of aliens on Earth)
The Supernaturalist (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - An orphan in a polluted future gains special sight after a near-death experience)
Timeline (Michael Crichton, Fiction - Archaeology students must rescue their teacher from the past)
The Secret of Platform 13 (Eva Ibbotson, YA Fiction - A princeling from another world is snatched while visiting Earth; years later, the child's caretakes return to reclaim him)
Forbidden Mind (Kimberly Kinrade, YA Fiction - A telepathic teen girl in a secret school learns what really happens after her classmates "graduate")
Magic or Madness (Justine Larabalestier, YA Fiction - After her mother goes insane, a teen girl must confront her family's darkest secrets)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - Six tales of ordinary children who find themselves in terrifyingly extraordinary situations)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A beam of light transports a boy to a hostile alien wilderness)
The 2099 series (John Peel, YA Fiction - An accident reveals that a boy is not who he thought he was... and that his real ID is linked to a doomsday plot)
The Percy Jackson & the Olympians series (Rick Riordan, YA Fiction - A modern boy discovers that his real father was a powerful Greek god)
The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling, YA Fiction - An orphaned boy learns of his wizardly powers, and the magical truth of his parents' deaths)
The Otherland quartet (Tad Williams, Fiction - Strangers around the world are drawn into the deadly mystery surrounding a top-secret VR project)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy discovers doorways to other worlds, and strange clues about his own origins)
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Among the Hidden
(The Shadow Children sequence, Book 1)
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Aladdin
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
****
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Luke has been a criminal since he was born, a forbidden third child in violation of the Population Laws put into effect after overpopulation and famine devastated the world's food supplies. Living on a farm, with acres of forest to hide him, he's managed to stay out of sight. But now the Government's building houses on his old sanctuary, forcing Luke into his attic room for what may be the rest of his life. At first he doesn't mind so much - after all, he's never even met another human outside his family, and he's been hiding since before he could walk - but soon he grows restless, spying on his new neighbors and imagining their lives. Then he sees a face in the window of one of the fancy new houses... a strange, young face, in a home where two other children already live. Soon, Luke learns that he's not the only "shadow child" in the world, and that some of his fellows are getting tired of hiding. But can shadow children really change a world that doesn't even want them to exist?
REVIEW: This read fast, and I enjoyed it. Overpopulation is one of the major problems facing our world today, for all that it's one that's intrisically difficult for our species deal with; the line between human rights and human responsibilities, between individual survival and overall species/planet survival, is an increasingly treacherous one. The book didn't bog itself down rallying behind one view or another; Luke gets to hear both sides, and learns that the truth can't be judged by extreme angles or governed by extreme laws. As implied, this is the start of a multistory arc, or possibly a full-fledged series, but still Haddix pulls off a few dark twists that don't conform to the standard Young Adult sci-fi tale formula. I'll have to look for the next books in this sequence when I scrape together some manner of book budget.
You might also enjoy:
The Secret School (Avi, YA Fiction - Farm children must take charge of their own education when the local schoolhouse is shut down)
Wolf Rider (Avi, YA Fiction - Nobody believes a boy who receives a phone call from a killer)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card, YA? Fiction - A boy prodigy, also a rare government-sanctioned third child, is trained to fight alien invaders in the future)
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand, Fiction - Two FBI agents investigate a government cover-up of alien invaders on Earth)
The Tripods (John Christopher, YA Fiction - A teen boy witnesses the alien conquest of Earth)
Things Not Seen (Andrew Clements, YA Fiction - A boy wakes up to discover he's become invisible)
The Supernaturalist (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - In a dystopian future, an orphan boy's near-death experiences lets him see invisible parasites)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - A series of tales about children who find themselves in peculiar situations)
Witch & Wizard (James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet, YA Fiction - Two teens in a modern dictatorship are imprisoned for powers they don't know they have)
The 2099 series (John Peel, YA Fiction - A teen boy finds himself at the heart of a plot that may destroy the future world)
The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman, YA? Fiction - A girl on an alternate Earth discovers a church-led conspiracy)
Others See Us (William Sleater, YA Fiction - After a spill in a toxic swamp gives a boy telepathic abilities, he finds himself drawn into a world of paranoia and power struggles)
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Among the Imposters
(The Shadow Children sequence, Book 2)
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Aladdin
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
****
DESCRIPTION: Luke Garner once thought he was the only illegal third child in the world, until he discovered Jen Talbot, the third child of a "Baron" in a
new housing development near his family's farm. Jen wanted to rally all the thirds to demand freedom from the oppressive Population Laws, but her revolutionary vision
led to her death... and Luke's discovery by Jen's heartbroken father, himself an agent in the dreaded Population Police. Through his contacts, Luke now has a fake ID,
a new name - Lee Grant - and a chance at a normal life... or as normal as any third child can hope for in this dystopian future.
Sent to the Hendricks School for Boys, Luke-turned-Lee is both terrified and secretly hopeful. After all, he's never been to a real school before. But something's not
right about Hendricks, something worse than the school bully who latches onto him from the first day. Nobody seems to know or care what classes he's supposed to go to.
Half the children are catatonic. The teachers and staff hardly notice what's going on. Luke finds himself drawn deeper into the school's peculiar mysteries... and finds
himself in greater danger of discovery than ever before.
REVIEW: Much like the first book, Luke's world is painted in shades of paranoia and oppression, with highlights and shadows in secrets and fear. There's a certain whiff of plot convenience now and again, both in Luke's discoveries and dangers and in the characters he encounters. Some elements begin to strech credulity; even the deepest of conspiracies has to start tripping over its own feet eventually, but some impossibly fast action behind the scenes invariably prevents a tumble. Once again, Haddix uses Luke and his world to debate moral and legal issues, though now Luke is starting to form his own opinions rather than letting others and their propaganda do it for him. Overall, it's a nice story that reads fast and dark. I wouldn't mind reading more.
You might also enjoy:
The Secret School (Avi, YA Fiction - Farm children must take charge of their own education when the local schoolhouse is shut down)
Wolf Rider (Avi, YA Fiction - Nobody believes a boy who receives a phone call from a killer)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card, YA? Fiction - A boy prodigy, also a rare government-sanctioned third child, is trained to fight alien invaders in the future)
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand, Fiction - Two FBI agents investigate a government cover-up of alien invaders on Earth)
The Tripods (John Christopher, YA Fiction - A teen boy witnesses the alien conquest of Earth)
Things Not Seen (Andrew Clements, YA Fiction - A boy wakes up to discover he's become invisible)
The Supernaturalist (Eoin Colfer, YA Fiction - In a dystopian future, an orphan boy's near-death experiences lets him see invisible parasites)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - A series of tales about children who find themselves in peculiar situations)
Witch & Wizard (James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet, YA Fiction - Two teens in a modern dictatorship are imprisoned for powers they don't know they have)
The 2099 series (John Peel, YA Fiction - A teen boy finds himself at the heart of a plot that may destroy the future world)
The Golden Compass (Philip Pullman, YA? Fiction - A girl on an alternate Earth discovers a church-led conspiracy)
Others See Us (William Sleater, YA Fiction - After a spill in a toxic swamp gives a boy telepathic abilities, he finds himself drawn into a world of paranoia and power struggles)
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