Caught

Caught by Margaret Peterson Haddix

She did it! She finally did it! She did it; she did it; she did it! She did it – did it – did it!! At last – At long last. Did I mention that she actually did it? I have been agonizing over how much I wanted to enjoy this series, The Missing. I have been gnashing my teeth because I haven’t been completely captivated by it. In fact, I’ve been increasingly disappointed in it. Until. This. Book. The. Fifth! I have documented proof of my downward spiraling dissatisfaction: Found, Sent, Sabotaged, Torn. But Caught might just be the turning point. After all, there are only two books left. Amen!

Jonah and Katherine are at school and counting down the seconds until lunch. And time is moving desperately slowly. Okay, it is frozen. Jonah and Katherine are the only students who are still able to move. Circumstances point to JB’s involvement. The kids set off to escape from the school grounds and seek out Chip who isn’t in school today. Is he frozen too? Jonah and Katherine run into Angela, another time traveler, at Chip’s home. She has an Elucidator and JB is speaking from it, but his words aren’t coming through clearly. Accidently, the four time travelers make contact with each other and Jonah and Katherine are catapulted back to 1903! Who knew that could happen?

Where do they find themselves? In Albert Einstein’s study. Einstein’s new line of thinking could ruin everything. He is supposed to be concentrating on the Theory of Relativity, but he thinks he has discovered a “split in time”. (A split in time caused in 1611 by Jonah and the time travelers?) His attention has been redirected to theories about time when he should be working on his groundbreaking discoveries that would be published in the scientific miracle year of 1905! Jonah and Katherine must insure that E=mc² will still be published.

The kids run into an obstacle in the form of Einstein’s wife, Mileva. She pays particular attention to detail and is fully aware that two somethings or two somebodies are in the Einstein’s apartment – invisible and hiding, sneaking through doors and stealing food. She acquires the Elucidator and holds it hostage even as she learns that her firstborn daughter is ill with Scarlet Fever. Mileva travels to Serbia to be with her child and Albert remains behind. Jonah is torn. Follow the Elucidator or stick with Albert?

It turns out that Mileva’s daughter, Lieserl, is one of the missing children in history and the girl the kids know as Emily. The healthy, thirteen-year-old Emily is forced to merge with her deathly ill, toddler self and no one, not Jonah, Katherine or especially Mileva want to see her die. Mileva deduces that the time travelers can save her daughter and she still has control over the Elucidator. In another accidental contact, four time travelers once again connect and they are hurled into a time hollow where time is frozen. Who knew that could happen?

Here is the most ingenious part! Mileva is every bit as brilliant as the male scientific minds of her time. She is Einstein’s assistant for all intents and purposes. She begins to see what the kids cannot and she takes charge. She freezes everyone, including JB. And she begins the lengthy task of setting things right even insuring that her child is safe. Fantastic!! Let’s hear it for the young woman!

Book five rocked! Haddix includes an Author’s Note that fills in the blanks – what is fact and what is fiction. She lists resources to learn more about Mileva Einstein and just how much she might have aided Einstein during 1905, his miracle year, when he published four extraordinary, life-changing, papers while working full time. I was hooked. Haddix makes modern history fascinating and perhaps she will hook the girls with this one. There is hope for books six and seven! Excited once more.