The Missing (novel series)

The Missing is a series of fictional young-adult novels written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It tells the story of famous children from history stolen by futuristic time travelers from their place in time and accidentally sent to the 21st century as babies. They are then adopted by families in the 21st century. Because Jonah is one of the stolen children, he, along with his non-adopted sister Katherine, must help return the missing kids to their rightful places in history and fix time before it is destroyed. The first book in the series, Found, was published on April 22, 2008. The series continued with book titles Sent, Sabotaged, Torn, Caught, Risked (originally intended to be titled Kept), and Revealed. The eighth and final book, Redeemed, was released on September 8, 2015. There are also two ebook short stories, Sought (which takes place before Risked) and Rescued (which takes place between Risked and Revealed).^[2] Haddix originally intended the series to consist of only seven books, however, she stated that she had trouble closing out the series in seven books; leading to her decision to write Redeemed.^[3]

Synopsis

Found

A thirteen-year-old boy named Jonah had always known that he was adopted and had never thought much of it until he began receiving strange letters sent to his house.^[4][5] When Jonah's friend Chip, who received the same letters, learns that he is also adopted, Jonah, Chip and Jonah's sister, Katherine, come to realize that Jonah and Chip are important missing children from history who were transported to the 21st century by baby smuggling time travelers, whose names are Gary and Hodge. Later, they are unknowingly lured into a cave, known as a time hollow, with all but one of the other 36 missing children in an attempt by the smugglers to take them to the future. After they have defeated the smugglers, another time traveler from the future known to them as JB (Janitor Boy) decides to send Chip and another boy, Alex, back to the 1480s, where they were originally taken from. While trying to stop him, Jonah and Katherine are accidentally taken along for the trip as well, leaving it up to them to save their friends and return to the 21st century. This sets the plot and the title for the following book in the series, "Sent".

Found was released on April 22, 2008.^[6]

Sent

In this book, Jonah, Katherine, Chip, and Chip's real brother, Alex, have one warning of disaster before they are sent back to 15th century to the Tower of London, with the promise that they can return to their home in the 21st century if they can repair history. They quickly discover that Chip and Alex's true identities are Edward V (king of England) and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. But before Chip can enjoy being the King of England, they discover that they are virtually prisoners—and that the boys' uncle, King Richard III, wants them dead. Jonah and Katherine must repair time and save Chip and Alex from their certain deaths before it is even possible that they can return home.^[7][8]

Sent was released on August 25, 2009.^[9]

Sabotaged

In this third volume of the series, Jonah and Katherine return Andrea, identified as the missing child Virginia Dare, to 1600, her correct time period from where she was kidnapped. During their time journey, the device used for their time travel, called an Elucidator, is lost, causing the children arrive not certain as to where or when they are. They eventually piece together clues to find that their attempt to fix time by sending Andrea back is being thwarted by a man who calls himself Second.^{[10] [11]} Along the way they save the life of Andrea's 16th-century grandfather, John White and meet two of the other missing children, Brendan and Antonio, who were mysteriously sent back to their original time by Second. While on Croatoan Island, Andrea changes time itself and is reunited with her grandfather. Second appears and Jonah and Katherine are saved by JB, only to be hurled into another time.

Sabotaged was released on August 24, 2010.^[12]

Torn

Jonah and Katherine land on the decks of Henry Hudson's ship, called the Discovery, moments before a mutiny in the early 17th century.^[13] JB reveals that John Hudson, one of the kids stolen from history and Henry Hudson's son, is missing completely, and Jonah will have to play his part. Jonah and Katherine must survive being on the 17th century boat,^[14] with unlikely help from two of the sailors. When they find out that Second has disguised himself as Hudson's first mate and has murdered one of them, Jonah and Katherine escape the boat after a docking and manage to get into the Damaged Time of 1605. They save their friends Brendan, Antonio, Andrea and John White when Jonah rescues everyone from the fire of 1605. It then turns out that Second sent John Hudson to 1605. John Hudson, called Dalton Sullivan in the 21st century, was already in 1605, living in England. JB then concludes that Second unraveled time from 1605 to 1611, made his own new, alternate universe and is sealing it off completely from others. JB then sends everyone to the 21st century, where they can live in peace, for a while.

Torn was released on August 23, 2011.^[15]

Caught

Jonah and Katherine are in school when time freezes. They are subsequently transported to Albert Einstein's time, where they must help to save his illegitimate daughter Lieserl,^[16] who is known as Emily in the 21st century, and keep Einstein from discovering time travel instead of the theory of relativity, which would ruin history. Jonah and Katherine follow Mileva, Einstein's wife, in order to put Emily in her correct time, 1903. When they get to Mileva's parents' house, they discover that Lieserl is just a baby and close to death from scarlet fever. However, during Jonah and Katherine's followings, Mileva discovers them,^[17] steals their Eludicator, and communicates with them, causing a huge disturbance in time. They are all sent, along with Emily, to a place outside of time, called a time hollow. Mileva freezes everyone there using the Elucidator and then watches her whole life, Emily's life, and learns English to understand how time travel worked. Then she unfreezes only Jonah and allows him to come with her and save time. Jonah lets Mileva keep the Elucidator when she returns to her time, which allows her to send her demented son, Tete Einstein, to the future as a baby, where he grows up to become JB.

Caught was released on September 3, 2012.^[18]

Risked

Right after Jonah, Katherine and Chip meet a girl named Daniella McCarthy, the four are kidnapped by a boy, Gavin, and sent to 1918. It is revealed that Gavin and Daniella are Alexei and Anastasia Romanov, the youngest children of Czar Nicholas II. Everybody except Chip is arrested upon arrival, who rescues Jonah and Katherine and discovers that Yakov Yurovsky intends to kill the Romanovs. Yurovsky successfully lures the imperial family into the cellar and proceeds with the killings. Jonah and Gavin are shot in the ensuing chaos, but JB appears and rescues Jonah and Katherine. Katherine later returns to save the others, but the four older Romanovs are killed. JB sends Jonah and Gavin to the future, where they are forced to stay while they recover from their injuries.

The book was released on September 4, 2013.^[19][20]

Revealed

Charles Lindbergh appears in the Skidmores' home, grabs Katherine, and vanishes. Jonah finds out that Chip, Andrea, and all the other children from the plane have disappeared as well. Jonah’s parents and all the other adults in his town have "un-aged" into teenagers. Jonah is the only 'normal' person left, and must save everyone with the help of un-aged JB and Angela.^[21][22] He convinces Lindbergh to return Katherine as well as to betray Gary and Hodge who are subsequently unaged into babies. Staying true to its name, Jonah's real identity as a missing child is finally "revealed" in this book; an orphanage baby from 1932 who was kidnapped to be passed off as Charles Lindbergh's son. Jonah also rescues his twin brother, Jordan, from Gary and Hodge in the process, and later learns that doing so would result in them living together in the twenty-first century.

Revealed was released on September 2, 2014.^[23]

Redeemed

Jordan Skidmore learns that he was an orphanage child from 1932 and that he now has a new twin brother named Jonah. Wanting to help his strangely unaged parents, he sends his entire family to the future.^[24][25] Second traps his parents in a time hollow and Jordan, Jonah, and Katherine are forced to save a young version of Second, Kevin, from an accident in the past. The adult Second, frustrated with Jonah and Katherine, later traps them in a separate time hollow, leaving Jordan to save time by himself. In a time hollow, he watches the entire lives of his siblings and learns about their previous trips through time. After befriending Kevin, Jordan convinces him to help reage the adults. In the process of doing so, Kevin himself is unaged into a baby. The two are captured by Curtis Rathbone, the CEO of the company that employed Gary and Hodge, who then reveals that he caused all the unaging. Jordan and Kevin are then joined by Jonah, Katherine, Chip, JB, Angela and his parents. Everybody is frozen by Mr Rathbone but he is killed by Kevin's Elucidator. In the epilogue, Kevin is adopted by the Skidmores. JB reveals to them that the time agency is sealing off time travel to prevent any more near-disasters, but secretly gives them an emergency Elucidator.

Redeemed, was released on September 8, 2015.^[26]

Characters

Protagonists (in order of appearance)

• Jonah Skidmore - Jonah is the 13-year-old main character in the series. He is one of the famous children of history that were kidnapped by time travelers and accidentally sent to the 21st century. He is the adopted brother of Katherine Skidmore and the adopted son of Michael and Linda Skidmore. Jonah is helping to restore history caused by the kidnappings. He faces the struggle of figuring out who he is as one of the missing children of history. In Revealed he discovers that while he was listed under Charles Lindbergh on the plane, he was not a famous kid in original time, and Gary and Hodge only kidnapped him to pass him off as Charles Lindbergh's son. Jonah has light brown hair and pale skin with occasional freckles. He has big blue eyes and dimples. He is taller than Katherine

• Katherine Skidmore - Jonah's one year younger sister and a main character of the series. Even though she is not a missing child of history, Katherine has decided to help Jonah. She also comes up with JB's nickname, which stands for "Janitor Boy." She called JB "Cute Janitor Boy" before she knew what he really was. Katherine is slim and has wispy blonde hair, brown eyes, and a ski-slope nose.
• Chip Winston (King Edward V) - Jonah's friend and Alex's older brother. One of the missing children of history, Chip and Alex are particularly famous for their disappearance. Both boys' pasts were restored in Sent. He becomes Katherine's boyfriend after their adventures in Sent.
• JB (Tete Einstein) - A time traveler from the future who helps Jonah and Katherine restore time. He knows the rules of time traveling and guides Jonah and Katherine in many of their journeys. He is the son of Albert Einstein and brother to Emily Quinn (Lieserl Einstein). He was sent forward in time by his mother, Mileva Einstein, to a point in time when his mental illness could be cured so that he could live a normal life. He then grew up to become the time traveler Jonah and Katherine know as "JB".
• Alex Polchak (Richard, Duke of York) - Chip's younger brother. As one of the missing children of history, Alex has been adopted by different people than Chip. Less is known about Alex as he appears later in the first book and less personal information is given. His past is restored in Sent with Chip's.
• Angela DuPre - An ally of Jonah and Katherine. Angela was one of the few people to have seen the missing children before the event was covered up. In the prologue of Found, she discovered the missing children of history when she saw the babies inside of a plane at the airport where she worked. In Revealed she plays a prominent role of helping Jonah save time. She eventually, along with Hadley, adopts Maria Romanova, Leonid Sednev, and the baby versions of Gary and Hodge.
• Hadley Correo - A time agent from the future who sometimes works with JB and assisted Jonah and the others when they traveled to 1485. In Revealed, he played an important role in Jordan's adoption by the Skidmores. He eventually "moves" to the twenty-first century to be with Angela and their adopted family.
• Andrea Crowell (Virginia Dare) - Another missing child of history, Andrea is the famous Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the American colonies. She, along with the rest of the mysterious Roanoke Colony, disappeared during the years her grandfather, John White was gone. Her past was restored in Sabotaged. Jonah developed a small crush on her over time and the two began a relationship in the epilogue of Redeemed.
• Brendan (One Who Survives Much) - An obscure missing child, Brendan was originally a painter and a member of a neighboring Indian tribe. He was apprenticed by John White along with Antonio; most of their works were demolished in a fire, while the rest were taken illegally by time travelers. His past was restored in Sabotaged.
• Antonio (Walks with Pride)- Like Brendan, most of Antonio's past is unknown except that he was a painter and a member of a neighboring tribe to the Roanoke Colony. He was also apprenticed to White as a painter and later had most of his works destroyed in a fire. His past was restored in Sabotaged.
• Dalton Sullivan (John Hudson) - A missing child of history. Dalton never relived his past due to Second's interference but instead Jonah played his part in Torn.
• Emily Quinn (Lieserl Einstein) - Another missing child of history, Emily is Albert Einstein's illegitimate daughter. She was only briefly mentioned and presumed dead by scarlet fever after 1903, a year after her birth in original time. She is also JB's sister. Her past was restored in Caught.
• Daniella McCarthy (Anastasia Romanova) - Stolen from 1918 with her brother Alexei, Daniella is the youngest grand duchess and daughter of Czar Nicholas II. She was originally killed with the other Romanovs in 1918. She was the only one of the thirty-six kids from the plane that was absent from the adoption conference in Found, which resulted in her not learning about her true identity until the beginning of Risked, the novel where her past is restored. The short story Sought is told from her point of view.
• Gavin Danes (Alexei Romanov) - Stolen from 1918 along with his older sister Anastasia Nikolaevna (Romanova), Gavin is the only son of Czar Nicholas II and heir to the throne of Russia. Stricken with hemophilia, Gavin was originally a sarcastic, mean boy, who wanted to take Gary and Hodge's offer and go to the future, but changed his mind and befriended Jonah, Chip, Katherine, and Daniella. His past was restored in Risked.
• Jordan Skidmore - Jonah's twin brother who like Jonah, originally died from starvation at an orphanage in 1932. He was kidnapped by Gary and Hodge in Revealed to trick Jonah into thinking the baby was himself, which would create a paradox and destroy time. He was rescued by Jonah and grew up in the twenty-first century in a separate dimension from most of the other characters. He is the main character in Redeemed.

Antagonists (in order of appearance)

• Gary and Hodge - The pair of original time kidnappers that gathered up all of the missing children in the first book. They are sent to time prison by JB, but Gavin releases them, not knowing the consequences. They are eventually unaged and adopted by Angela and Hadley.
• Second Chance (Sam 'Kevin' Chase) - Child-abused by his father, he became an expert hacker and ran away from home at the age of 13. In original time, he died from injuries caused by falling from an airport fence, but witnessing the time crash let to him being hired by Interchronological Rescue and sent to spy on the time agency. There, he was JB's projectionist, before manipulating and splitting time in Sabotaged and Torn, resulting in him being fired. He has also gone back in time to "help" Jonah and Katherine. In Redeemed, the adult version of him is killed by Mr. Rathbone. The young version of him is rescued by Jordan, and he is adopted by the Skidmores.
• Curtis Rathbone - CEO of Interchronological Rescue, the company that steals babies from the past and sells them in the future to become rich. He employed Gary, Hodge and Second, though he was eventually betrayed by the latter. He was known to treat his employees poorly. He was killed in Redeemed and Interchronological Rescue was shut down by the time agency.

References

External links

• Haddix Books - Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Haddix Books - Found
• Sent book summary - Simon and Schuster