ABC Student News: Book Review

Margaret Peterson Haddix – The Missing Series: Book 1 “FOUND”

Even though its cover might fool you into believing it’s yet another airplane sabotage story, there’s actually more to this book than you might think.

The Plot: An unknown airplane lands on an airline’s gate, without being noticed by the airport’s radar or personnel. Besides its unbelievably mysterious appearance at the airport, there’s more: no pilot, no flight attendants and no adults for that matter, just… babies. Undoubtedly, a bizarre beginning for Haddix, but a very unique attempt to keep the reader hooked until the book ends. Chapter 2 continues with the story, 13 years after the event. It introduces us to the lives of a 2 new characters: Jonah and Chip, interestingly both 13 and even more interestingly Jonah is openly adopted. Could they somehow be linked to the airport’s bizarre mystery?

The Critic’s Review: The book carries an unbelievably strong story and it never fails to give the reader that urge to keep on turning those pages. However, somewhere in the middle of the story reading becomes an unbelievable nuisance with every turning of the page. Why? The story is too focused on the process to finding the solution that… well… nothing happens. It’s a good way to keep the suspense going, and eventually something does happen in the story, but to keep the reader waiting that long for the story’s solution without any action whatsoever? Having said that, though there is a moment towards the middle of the book in which the reader fights the urge to close the book, *SPOILER* there is an unbelievable ending to this book as a prize for those who just kept on flipping those pages until the very end. Also, did I mention there’s a moral to this story?

Moral: NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.