Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix. (Grades 5-8.)It was her first day of work at the airline when Angela saw the plane. This was not just any plane. It seemed to appear out of nowhere. And when Angela investigated, she found no pilot, no flight crew... just 36 babies, each sitting in its own seat.
Cut to thirteen years later. Jonah has always known he was adopted. His parents never kept it a secret from him. But then Jonah starts getting weird letters on plain paper with no return address.
The first reads, "You are one of the missing."
The second reads, "Beware! They're coming back to get you."
From there, Jonah is plunged into a dangerous mystery trying to figure out where he came from and who is looking for him. With the help of his friend Chip and his sister Katherine, he'll need all his courage to find the truth.
I couldn't put this book down. Seriously, I was in the middle of two other books, but this one snuck in and I just couldn't stop reading. The premise is creepy and suspenseful and I just had to know what happened. The first half of the book is compelling thriller, the second half very sci-fi. This is the first book in The Missing trilogy and it looks like Sent is due out next spring. I'm totally intrigued and I think this is a series I'm likely to keep up with.
I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of Haddix's Shadow Children series and especially Running Out of Time. I'd wager it'll be a hit for those kids who have to read a science fiction book but maybe aren't so into aliens and space travel. Be warned that the ending is Quite a cliffhanger and I've already had kids looking for the next book.
Tons of people have reviewed this title and I'm going to be lazy and just point you to Jen's review, which has a nice roundup of posts. You'll also want to check out the cynsations interview with MPH.