Caught

xxpish - When time freezes in Jonah’s 7th grade science class, he knows something’s wrong. Five minutes later, Jonah and Katherine are speeding through time. They are in the year 1903, right next to Albert and Mileva Einstein themselves. When Mileva sees the Elucidator floating in thin air, she grabs it and shoves it in her pocket. She goes on a long journey to see her eighteen-month old child, Lieserl with Jonah and Katherine following her, and she realizes that they are there. They have gotten caught. With Mileva now having the knowledge of time-travel, will Jonah and Katherine be able to save history? And with a thirteen year old Lieserl in place of the eighteen-month old one, will they be able to keep Lieserl secret, and Mileva’s mouth shut? In an epic pageturner with shocking information revealed, Will history be in ruins, or will they be able to save the mess they made? What I thought about it: I did not want to read Caught. After I read Torn, I did not want to continue the series. But, I wanted to give Margaret Peterson Haddix another chance, so I continued the series. And I’m glad I did. I really enjoyed Caught. It might’ve been because it involved the Einsteins, and it was cool reading about their early life, as well as their later life in the Author’s Note. I love the Author’s Note in all of the books, it just gives you the fascinating history behind the story. I also really like the idea of time freezing; it sounds like a made-up thing, but this book makes it seem real. Then there’s the part where Mileva sees her daughter eleven years older than she was a second before. Imagine that happening to you; I think you would at least have a heart attack. There are so many interesting concepts in this book that it makes you think. Haddix is a very great author and I am glad she has redeemed herself with this novel that is hard to stop reading. So, find out if history collapses and read this book!

August 1, 2012
Grades 5-8 When an anomaly causes time to freeze, middle-school siblings and seasoned time-travelers Jonah and Katherine are sucked back to 1903 and into the lives of Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva, who is torn between knowing about technology that will save her sick child and revealing too much of the future to the man whose theories eventually make time travel imaginable. This fifth entry in the Missing series brings back the familiar main characters and concerns about fixing time, but definitely includes more science (a plus for STEM book lists). It also includes a plotline about the social stigma of a child born out of wedlock in the early twentieth century, which creates some confusion about the author's intended audience. Haddix provides fascinating information about Mileva Einstein and the as-yet-unresolved mysteries surrounding her first child, while her author's note responsibly distinguishes historical fact from fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)