The Strangers

Starred review from February 4, 2019
In Ohio, the Greystone kids—responsible Chess, math-savvy Emma, and excitable Finn—have established a pleasant life with their mother years after their father’s death. Until, that is, the day they find their mother weeping and wan over a news story about three kidnapped Arizona children—children who have not only the same birth dates and unusual names as the siblings but also a mother who looks uncannily similar to their own. After their mom disappears on a “work trip” the very next day, the Greystones receive a cryptic farewell and a coded letter that makes them wonder if they’re connected to the kidnapped children. It’s up to all three to crack the code and search out answers using nothing but who they are and what they already know. In a satisfying third-person narrative that alternates between the children’s experiences, Haddix (the Children of Exile series) portrays the complex anxieties and internal lives of close, caring family members grappling with a single set of extraordinary circumstances—separately and together. A secret-stacked, thrilling series opener about perception, personal memories, and the idiosyncrasies that form individual identities. Ages 8–12.

February 15, 2019
When their mom goes missing, three siblings chase her to a parallel world to reunite their family in this first of a new series by Haddix (Children of Jubilee, 2018, etc.).Sixth-grader Chess Greystone and his younger siblings, Emma and Finn, discover their widowed mom in shock when they arrive home from school one day. A startling news broadcast has reported the kidnapping of three children who, against all odds, share their exact same first names, middle names, and birthdays. If that weren't unsettling enough, the next day their mom insists she must leave on a sudden business trip. The Greystone siblings realize something is horribly wrong when they find their mom's phone and laptops left behind at their house. With the help of new friend Natalie Mayhew, in whose mother's care they find themselves, they follow a trail of clues and secret codes to an alternate world that connects their mom's sudden disappearance to their missing doppelgängers. Maintaining suspense from the beginning to the cliffhanger ending, Haddix builds momentum with short chapters that shift among the three third-person perspectives of the Greystone children. Along with an exciting science-fiction mystery, the story touches on real-world topics such as divorce, grief, abusive relationships, government corruption, and transitioning from elementary to middle school. Apart from background characters, the cast is predominantly white, with the possible exception of Natalie, whose mother is cued Latinx.A high-stakes adventure full of teamwork with a multifaceted mystery and complex themes. (Science fiction. 8-12)

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olive_tree18 - This book was incredibly entertaining to read and intense. It is about the 3 Greystone kids: Chess, Emma, and Finn. One day they came home from school and discovered there were three other kids with the same first, middle, last names and birthdays. Before they could ask their mom, Kate Greystone, about it she left on a spontaneous "business trip". They are left with Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. They later find out that their mom will not be coming back and could be in danger. They go through her phone and computer that she oddly left at home and discover a coded letter. As they go through the code to find out what it is they are planning to bring their om back home. This leads to one crazy, action-packed adventure. All you have to do now is read the book to find out what happens in their adventure and if they get their mom back. I would give this book a five-star rating because I could really make a movie in my head. I would recommend this book to 5th through 6th graders.