Sabotaged ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

Sabotaged (The Missing Series: Book 3) ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

SPOILER ALERT! This book is part of a series. If you have not read Found and Sent, read on at your own risk!

Jonah and his sister, Katherine, are sent by the time agent they call “JB” on another mission to restore time. This time they are taking a girl named Andrea who, before she was stolen from her place in history, was Virginia Dare. Virginia Dare was the first English child born in an English American colony. Her family was part of the Roanoke colony that mysteriously disappeared. The kids take a device with them called an Elucidator. The Elucidator helps the kids reach the correct time and place and lets them communicate with JB if they need help. As they make the journey back through time, Andrea takes the Elucidator and reprograms it, then loses it. They look around when they arrive and realize that they are on Roanoke Island, but it seems that it has already been deserted. Andrea is very upset. It turns out that Andrea had another visitor from the future before JB came to see her. This mystery visitor told her that she could reprogram the Elucidator and go back in time to the point at which her parents were killed in a car accident and save them. Andrea realizes that the mystery visitor lied to her. He obviously planned for her to come to the Roanoke Colony after it had been abandoned by the colonists, buy why?

Before they have much time to think about the mystery visitor’s motives, they discover a man in distress out on the nearby ocean. The three kids save him from drowning only to find out that he is Virginia Dare’s grandfather, John White. They have arrived at a time in history no one knew about. No one ever recorded that John White came returned to Roanoke Island to look for his family a second time. Jonah fears they may have completely messed up time by saving the man, but he admits that he could never have watched a man drown without trying to help. Then, Jonah and his friends spot “tracers” of John White and two boys dressed in Native American clothing. A tracer is something only a time traveler is able to see. It shows how things were supposed to be in “original time” before time travelers changed anything. Jonah is relieved to see that even in original time John White was rescued. Though he wonders what happened to the boys in tribal clothing. He believes Andrea’s mystery visitor is to blame for their absence. The kids wonder why the mystery man wanted them to rescue John White instead of the boys. When messages begin appearing from a person who calls himself “Second,” they feel as if they are all pawns in an elaborate scheme. They don’t know if they should accept Second’s help or not. Jonah believes Second and Andrea’s mystery visitor are one and the same. To make matters worse. Andrea’s/Virginia Dare’s grandfather, unconscious since his rescue, seems to be getting sicker. She is unwavering in her efforts to save him, even if it does make them fall right into a trap. Jonah and Katherine are determined to keep Andrea safe and still restore time if they can. They wonder why JB hasn’t helped them. Has he lost them? Who is Second, and what does he want from them? Will they ever make it back to the 21^st century?

I love the idea of learning about history in a time travel book. As I wrote in my review for Sent, only in a time travel book does the reader get to view the past as someone from the current century would see it. The Margaret Peterson Haddix once again chose a time period rich with history while choosing an event that is cloaked in mystery. It’s the perfect combination. She can research the time period, and teach the reader much about the way of life at that point in history. But she has the freedom to solve the historical mystery in any way she chooses. Since no one really knows what happened to the colonists on Roanoke Island, no one can tell her that her story is historically inaccurate. There is a bit of a romance in this book (a crush between Jonah and Andrea) which I think will appeal to the target age group (tweens and teens). One thing that distracted me a bit as I was reading is the incredible recall Jonah and the other kids have for things they learned in Social Studies class! In Harry Potter for instance, Hermione is a know-it-all, so the reader gets used to her supplying information ALL the time. But in The Missing Series all of the kids seem to remember random facts from their history lessons at just the perfect time. If I was a middle school student reading the book, it might make me pay better attention in class. Jonah claims he doesn’t remember as much as Katherine, but he has his moments of brilliance as well. As a teacher, I read with skepticism. Would these kids really remember that fact out of all the things they learned in school in fifth grade? I doubt it. J Luckily it’s only a momentary distraction for me, and then I continue enjoying the story. After reading Sent and Sabotaged I felt compelled to go look up the historical characters and places and learn more about them. I think The Missing books would be an excellent way for a teacher to combine history and language arts. I could tell from the way the author ended the story (CLIFFHANGER!) that she is planning on writing a fourth book. I am still anxious to find out which historical figure Jonah is, and I can’t wait to find out what historical mystery she will write about next!