The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Strangers Reviews

• 
  Diana • Book of Secrets

  35 Stars → I was intrigued by the premise of THE STRANGERS and it had a strong start After seeing a bizarre story on the news the Greystone children's mother disappears and Chess Emma and Finn are determined to bring her home Their mom left behind only cryptic clues to her whereabouts and it's going to take smarts and courage to find her After the halfway point the story took a strange turn that I wasn't expecting like a genre change almost It became slow and repetitive in parts and unfortunately ended in a cliffhanger Overall though it was a fun middle grade mystery with sci fi elements
• 
  Rachel Reads Ravenously

  4 stars Margaret Peterson Haddix is an author that’s been around since I was a child I remember one of my elementary school teachers reading her book Running Out of Time out loud to my class and loving it so much I begged my mom to go to the bookstore to buy it so I could read it again Flash forward twenty years or so and I’m a children’s librarian now When I saw she had this new book coming out I was intrigued by the cover yes I read book based on covers everyone does I placed a hold on the audiobook and listened to it on my work commuteI don’t want to give many spoilers away and it’s easy to do so I won’t say much about the plot Three siblings hear on the news that three other children with the same names and born on the same date are kidnapped Their mother begins acting weird and then disappears With the help of a girl named Natalie the three children search their home and mother’s office for clues as to where she went and whyI really enjoyed this book I think it’s a great middle grade read There’s a girl who loves math and science yay a responsible older brother and an endearing younger brother This book was very much about what we are capable of doing when we all work together and that every family has secrets muahahaha It does end on a cliffhanger so if you are on the fence I would wait to read it until the next book comes out in about 6 7 months from when I am posting this reviewFollow me on ♥ Facebook ♥ Blog ♥ Instagram ♥ Twitter ♥
• 
  Jessie_Book

  My recommendation to anyone who wants to read this book is to go in almost completely blind This book is like a puzzle Trying to put the pieces together as you read this book is half the fun I'll confess that my theory didn’t pan out but I did still enjoy itIf you have read any other Haddix book you are going to enjoy this one This book has mystery and intrigue in abundance So much so that I had a hard time putting it down even when it too late in the night and later too early in the morning Though I lost some interest in the book after the puzzle was solved
• 
  Jessica

  Very clever and twisty mystery Such an unusual premise and yet Haddix carries it off because of course she does Very excited for the next one to find out
• 
  Christi M

  The story begins when the children come home one day to find their mother a bit distraught Something is clearly bothering her as she listens to the TV or radio where they are stating that three children have been kidnapped – three siblings from Arizona with identical first and middle names as well as agesbirth dates of each of the Greystone children That night Chess overhears his mom talking to someone named “Joe” saying he “needed to fix it” The next day when the kids get up to go to school their mom tells them she has a business trip in Chicago she needs to go on and will be gone for a few days but she has found someone to take care of them – the mother of another student Things are strange as they only receive texts from their mom on the first day gone but the kids very uickly discover that their mom has prewritten the texts and timed when they will be sent out with the last one saying that she is sorry she can’t come back homeBefore reading this book I read one review that said it was best to go into this story blind I can somewhat see what they might be saying but sometimes it’s nice to know at least what sub genre you might be picking up Historical fiction? Fantasy? This one is very unusual to me because it touches a topic or subject in science fiction that can be difficult to relay to the readers – even in adult books While reading it my immediate thoughts reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time While The Strangers is clearly not the same book it reminded me of when I was in 5th grade watching the book through a film projector not a movie but scenes with narration As I watched A Wrinkle in Time I remember trying to grasp the concepts it was portraying to us because it was so foreign to me This is one of those books where there is an unusual concept to grasp but I think it was explained and shown just about as well as it could beAudio Book ReviewIntense That’s at least what it felt like for me when listening to the story on audio The story is written in 3 POVs Chess Emma and Finn who are the three Greystone children in the story As the children each tell the story from their point of view we get this overall sense of urgency and seriousness as they try to uncover what is really going on and how to get their mother back The audio book really seemed to portray this very well as I had to stop it sometimes just to get an emotional and mental break Who knew middle grade audio books could have such an effect?My favorite character to listen to was Finn who is the youngest The narrator really created a terrific child like voice to portray him I could immediately tell it was Finn narrating when it came to be his turn He was also the one who provided emotional breaks for me while listening as his take on things were sometimes rather cute to listen toOverall this was an engaging story to listen to that I think fans of A Wrinkle in Time might enjoy or for those who are looking for books where life is just a little bit off and not uite settledLength 7hrs 56 minutesRating 5 stars
• 
  Wendi Lee

  What happens when three kids read about the kidnapping of three other kids all with their names and exact ages? The premise of the first volume in this middle grade series was promising and although the middle lagged uite a bit the ending was pretty spectacular
• 
  Amerie

  Enjoyed this very much I especially liked the suspenseful chapter endings and the layers that could be appreciated by an adult Certain conversations and actions immediately had me thinking “Ah Been there” Ms Haddix included so much insight in her story I definitely plan to read the seuel
• 
  Books on Stereo

  A fun alternate universe story
• 
  Brittney

  Thank you so much Katherine Tegan Books at HarperCollins for providing me an eARC from Edelweiss in exchanged for an honest reviewdnfed at 60%175 5 stars The Greystone children have always had a happy close relationship with their mother When a kidnapping occurs that hits too close to home all things become chaotic for this family The Greystone children are separated from their mother after she mysteriously goes away for work and they are left to hunt for answersI really tried to enjoy this one but I just could not There was nothing uniue about the children and it was so hard to differentiate who was who I could not remember which personality traits went with each child As I read each chapter I could not remember which child’s POV was being used I thought that all the characters were so bland and the mystery was extremely lacking I was intrigued by the mystery as well as few things that occur; ultimately though the mystery was not that great to me While the mystery is interesting not much happens in this story When all the elements are combined together it’s just not enough to hold my interest despite of how much I wish it wouldI gave this book a fair shot but it just was not for me I think this book would be a good middle grade for those just entering a middle grade reading transition However I have read amazing middle grade that I adore so age difference is not the main issue for me and this book
• 
  Sarah

  DISCLAIMER I received a digital review copy of THE STRANGERS via Edelweiss Above the Treeline in exchange for an honest reviewLet me just start by sayingWHAT THE HECK WAS THATI shouldn’t expect anything other than amazing plot twists from Margaret Peterson Haddix but wow This one was really justwowA LITTLE SUMMARYThis story is basically about three kids Chess Emma and Finn Greystone who come home from school one day and overhear a news broadcast talking about three kids from Arizona who were kidnapped with their exact same names which definitely creeps these kids out The day after that happens their mom announces that she’s going on an unexpected business trip and doesn’t know when she’ll come back The Greystone kids then go to live with a woman who used to be friends with their mom and who has a daughter of her own Natalie From there they start to notice a bunch of screwy things going on and decide to investigate sending the four kids on this crazy missionOkay I can’t say too much without giving away spoilers and believe me you do not want to get spoilers for this book but think Nickelodeon’s mystery series HUNTER STREET meets Netflix’s STRANGER THINGSBut yeah all in all definitely one of my favorite Haddix books and definitely purchasing when it gets released