Sent (The Missing #2)

Valuable fun for tweens.

Gr 58This book begins where "Found" (S & S, 2008) left off: Chip, Jonah, Katherine, and Alex are falling through time. They find themselves in 1483 in the Tower of London where the famously imprisoned princes, Edward and Richard, are fearfully awaiting their fates. As was revealed at the end of "Found", Chip and Alex are really Edward and Richard, spirited away to our current century by time travelers in a misguided attempt to save their lives. The four fumble through attempts to figure out how to save them from their historically presumed deaths. While the children know next to nothing about the real princes, they have a firsthand chance to watch history in the making, all the while hoping that they won't alter time too much and end up getting the princes killed anyway. Haddix ratchets up the tension here, letting it mount in moment-by-moment near misses and escapes. The kids' futuristic helper, JB, tries his best to keep them from causing too much damage to time, showing himself to be on their side. Full of interesting historical details, but muddy with the science of time travel, this is a fantastic follow-up to the first book. Haddix even poses an interesting "what if" about the real fates of Edward and Richard. By the book's end, Jonah still doesn't know who he really is, and readers will be just as anxious as he is to find out. The next installment can't come quickly enough."Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.