Haddix, Margaret Peterson.
FOUND
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c2008.
IL 5-8, RL 4.8
ISBN 1416954171

(6 booktalks)

"You are one of the missing."  "Beware! They're coming back to get you."  What would you do if you got these letters in the mail?  There is no return address and no way to find out who sent them.  Is it a prank?  Or should Jonah and Chip worry?  Jonah is adopted and he has always known that.  But Chip had no idea that he was adopted as well.  Why would his parents hide that from him?  And now no one is talking.  Except for one woman.  The woman who witnessed the airplane just appear out of nowhere twelve years ago.  Carrying 36 babies -- and no adults.  This is the first book in a new series.  If you like Haddix's Shadow Children series, be sure to pick this one up and find yourself among the missing.

Booktalk #2

The story opens in an airport. One of the attendants working behind the gate counter looksout to see a plane waiting at their gate. Wait, there is no plane due here now. When they enter the plane, there is a baby in each seat. As they work to get the babies off and to services,  it is clear that everyone else is as stunned as she; and after the babies are off, the plane is suddenly gone. It never appears on the news and it is made clear by the authorities that she is to act as if this never happened.  13 years later, Chip and Jonah, who have been good buddies forever, discover that they are both adopted. Is this more than coincidence?? After some very quiet researching they find out they were discovered on a plane full of babies that seemed to come from nowhere.  With this discovery they set out to find the others and begin to unravel this mystery. They will learn that they have come from the future and are about to be caught between opposing forces trying to repair the very fabric of time.  Margaret Peteron Haddix has done it again – a whopper of a story awaits you!   (New Hampshire Isinglass nominee, 2010)

Booktalk #3

Thirteen years ago there was a phantom airplane that had suddenly appeared at the gate with 36 babies on board. Flash forward thirteen years and meet Jonah, who has always known that he was adopted. His best friend, Chip, has just discovered that he was adopted as well. The two begin getting mysterious letters claiming that the boys are ‘One of the Missing’. Jonah and Chip are invited to an all day conference where the kids are separated into two groups. Jonah and Chip's group go on a hike and are led into a cave. Why are all the kids in this group 13 years old? Why was the one group of kids taken into a cave? Where did the 36 babies come from? Read this book to find out the answers to these intriguing questions.  (Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Awards Program, 2009-2010)

Booktalk #4

A plane suddenly appears at an airport jetway.  “Sky Trails” airlines employee Angela DuPre, peers down the jetway at the mysterious plane with the insignia that reads “Tachyon Travel”.  There is no sound from the plane and the door is open.  Ignoring airline procedure, she goes on board the plane.  There is no sound.  Is there no one aboard?  Angela notices that there are 36 seats on the plane.  Each one is taken.  In each seat is a baby.    Thirteen years later, thirteen-year-old Jonah receives a letter in the mail that reads:  “You are one of the missing”.  Jonah has always known that he was adopted but when the letter arrives just after telling his new friend Chip that he was adopted Jonah is suspicious.   Chip is also adopted and receives the same letter.  Is this a seventh grade prank?   Then a second letter arrives:  “Beware! They’re coming back to get you.”     (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2009-2010)

Booktalk #5

Jonah has always known that he’s adopted, and it isn’t a big deal to him. But when his new friend Chip finds out that he’s also adopted, and they both start getting mysterious letters saying things like “you are one of the missing,” they know that they have to investigate. What they find is what seems to be a far-reaching conspiracy that involves the FBI, a group of babies that appeared at an airport 13 years ago, people who vanish into thin air, and choices about their future that involve leaving their homes and families forever. Found is full of secrets, and the beginning of a series. You’ll leave this book wondering what happens next to Jonah and Chip, but have no fear, books 2 and 3, Sent and Sabotaged, are available now!  (Book Talk Author: Becker Parkhurst-Strout, The Colorado Blue Spruce Award nominee 2012)

Booktalk #6

Found, the first book in a new series by the author of the Shadow children series, begins when a plane filled with 36 unattended babies lands at an airport where bewildered airport employees wonder who they are and where they came from. They babies are adopted out and the story then flashes forward 13 years. The kids are now receiving mysterious letters that say things like “You are one of the Missing.”  “Beware!  They are coming back to get you.”   As adoptees Chip and Jonah, along with Jonah’s sister Katherine, investigate the messages, they discover that the FBI was involved with their adoptions and shady characters seem to be stalking them.  They track down other adoptees and discover a time traveling plot that explains their heritage and sets up the next books in the series.  Missing and Sabotaged are available now for readers who want to follow the Missing on their quests to find their true identities.  (Book Talk Author: Sharon Nehls, The Colorado Blue Spruce Award nominee 2012)