Sent

I am having mixed feelings about writing a review for a sequel, but I just finished Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix, second book in The Missing series; it is fresh in my mind; so here it goes. I personally think that Haddix is brilliant. I manage to always fit her books into my "lists" which is rarely difficult since her books tend to make those very lists. This is no different. As you  may remember, the first book, Found was on this year's Caudill list.

You may also remember how excited I was to read this series and couldn't wait to get a hold of the second book. Well ... it took me FOREVER to get into this book. I just couldn't get wrapped up in the story and get lost. Reasons?

First, generally, the beginning book in such a series is the set up for what is to follow. Once you know what to expect, it is easy to get cozy with a book. It's like taking up with a good friend you haven't seen in years. You pick up where you left off. Many books pull that off even with years in between publications. I didn't read Found all that long ago, I guess I thought it would be easy to pick up where I left off.

Wrong! Sent spent an awful lot of time "setting up" more. Book one presented the premise. Book two presented the "how". Book one explains about who the Missing are and where they came from in general, although we didn't get to know many of the missing children, just two. Book two explains how two of the missing are returned to their time period and saved from certain death to live in the twenty-first century. The process is new to everyone, and not just to the reader. So it feels like we are all floundering ...

Second, the book presents a lot of discussion on time travel. Yikes. And it is necessary to some extent because the characters have to understand what can and cannot be done. But we're talking about multiple times simultaneously. We have the present; the future from which the "time travel agents" come; and the time period to which the missing children must be returned. In addition, there is a cave that is outside of time where the missing children are currently being held. If you're still following, during this book, most of the characters experience no time whatsoever. Jonah and his sister, the main characters, feel days pass. The children who are returned to their time period, Chip and Alex, live TWO YEARS in this book.

Third, I think the first half of the book occurs in a room in the Tower of London. Boring! A lot of talk and very little action. No forward movement despite the threat of danger. (I hate to write in sentence fragments. I apologize.)

Fourth, Jonah is being deliberately, vaguely described. Haddix has said that she is unsure of who he is in history just yet. She's already changed her mind once. The more she leaves open, the more freedom she will have to make that decision before book seven. So that is both an advantage and a disadvantage that I hope will pay off.

What I offer, third book unpublished, is that this could be a really awesome series. I just think that book two is the weak link. If you plug through it, the last 100 pages were much better. I have confidence that Haddix will pull this off. She's tackling a HUGE topic and it could be fabulous. I can see the potential.