Summer Reading Scavenger Hunt Analysis

Summer Reading Scavenger Hunt: Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix was a suspenseful book filled to the brim with adventure. Anyone to pick it up is sure to stay hooked until the very last page. It kicks off when the main character, Jonah, receives a letter in the mail. Inside a blank envelope lies a piece of paper with six words on it: “You are one of the missing”. Jonah believes that this is just a prank orchestrated by some kids at school, poking fun at the fact that he is adopted. This all changes when his friend Chip acquires the same letter. Chip had no knowledge of his adoption until he asked his parents later that night. Together the two boys and Jonah’s younger sister, Katherine, unravel the mystery.

This conflict would be identified as man vs. society (external). This problem is not resolved and Katherine, Chip, and Jonah are negatively affected. The author exclaims, “‘What if we just want to stay in our own time? This is where we belong---the twenty-first century, I mean’...’Tell me the code to go home.’ JB began shaking his head, ‘Your ‘now’ is off limits’...’Welcome to the fifteenth century’ JB said grimly through the Elucidator” (Peterson Haddix 293). Once one of the members of the time travel society had taken the children out of the twenty-first century, they could not return. This was against the children’s wishes and as a result, the dilemma was not resolved. Instead, the children were taken to the fifteenth century, which was not what they had wanted. The song We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister compliments the theme nicely. The message of the song is that both parties will not compromise. This relates to the man vs. society conflict because the children won’t stand for anything except going back home to the twenty-first century, and the time travelers will not send them back. Both groups are at odds with each other and can not come to an