Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University (of Ohio) with degrees in English/journalism, English/creative writing and history. Before her first book was published, she worked as a newspaper copy editor in Fort Wayne, Indiana; a newspaper reporter in Indianapolis; and a community college instructor and freelance writer in Danville, Illinois.
She has since written more than 25 books for kids and teens, including Running Out of Time; Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey; Leaving Fishers; Just Ella; Turnabout; Takeoffs and Landings; The Girl with 500 Middle Names; Because of Anya; Escape from Memory; Say What?; The House on the Gulf; Double Identity; Dexter the Tough; Uprising; Palace of Mirrors; Claim to Fame; the Shadow Children series; and the Missing series. She also wrote Into the Gauntlet, the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status, the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and more than a dozen state reader’s choice awards.
Haddix and her husband, Doug, now live in Columbus, Ohio, with their two children.
Just before starting 6th-grade, Marin moves to a new town. She's apprehensive, worried about not fitting in.
Through flashbacks, you can tell that Marin may have been victimized by bullies at her previous school and this has left a mark on her.
While wandering through the woods by her new house, she comes across a group of teens. They seem so alive, laughing and having fun together, then they mysteriously disappear.
She soon finds out, she's not the only person that can see them. Her neighbor, Charley, a boy about her age, can see them as well.
He has been watching them for a while now and has named them 'the remarkables'. But who are they really and why are Charley and Marin the only one who notice them?
Together they come up with some theories, why this could be and what they should do about it. Not always agreeing but definitely both believing that it means something important.
This thoughtful Middle Grade story explores important topics: bullying, self confidence, guilt, grief and addiction.
I appreciate the conversations had by many of the characters within the story, they were all age-appropriate and overall, I enjoyed reading it.
In regards to the bullying, I thought this was an interesting perspective on it. Usually in novels where bullying is explored as a topic, it is perpetuated by characters that would be assumed enemies of the character they are tormenting.
In this case, the characters tormenting Marin were actually very close friends of hers. She was scared to speak out against them and even scared to let her parents know she didn't want to be friends with them anymore.
This topic was explored in its entirety and brought to a conclusion. I thought it was very well done!
It did get a little muddled for me towards the end, but perhaps that was just where my head space was at while I was reading it.
I think if the synopsis sounds interesting for you, you should definitely pick it up. It delivered more, as far as serious conversations go, than I anticipated and I truly appreciate it for that.
Margaret Peterson Haddix is just such a gifted middle grade author. She perfectly captures so much: the emotions, the difficulty of standing on the border between childhood and teenage-hood, the family dynamic, the change in friendship. But then, on top of that, she adds mysteries. Magic. Always a little bit spooky, a lot thought-provoking. And so, so good!
Okay, actual review time. I think this is the fifth book I’ve read by this author, so by now I know the drill. Middle-grade aged MC who runs into something speculative and has some really cool, hard questions raised. I honestly love the formula.
This book was soooo much more than that, though, and it’s really hard to describe how I felt as I read it. I was certainly gobsmacked by the rich depth of it. The themes and the main character and everything made me feel so seen and echo “yes” inside over and over. Marin was such a relatable character, never mind I’m more than twice her age. Particularly her guilt over things said and unsaid and her trying not to be a burden during all the changes. ;) Her care for her baby brother (and their adorable alliance) and her love for her family were so amazing. Her parents were honestly really adorable and real. XD (And I loved the long overdue father/daughter talk.) Also, kudos for a portrayal of a positive church experience.
The speculative elements were there in this one, though absolutely not in the way I was expecting. The plot twists were ammmaaaazzzing, and I did cry at the final message. It’s really such a hopeful book, and one I needed, methinks. <3
Just a note, there are some mentions of a death , and one character’s parents are addicts.
I can’t choose a best quote because the entire book and all the prose is beautiful.
Altogether, I really loved this book, and I think it’s the author’s best one yet.
This title became available through my Overdrive library last week and it looked to have just enough spooky elements to work well for a pre-Halloween read. It was full of mystery and suspense and was just right for the upper middle grade audience. Marin is new to town. While exploring the woods behind her house, she sees some older teenagers who suddenly disappear into thin air. That's when Marin discovers that her new neighbor, Charley, has also been watching the teenagers. She learns that he calls them Remarkables and that he believes what they are seeing are images from the past. Charley intends to find a way in so that he can change the future. But Marin is not so sure that's the best idea.
“...the present and the future are the only things you can do anything about. You can have a good future because the past is over. All you can do is learn from it.”
There's a lot packed into this story ranging from friendship to bullies to depression to drug addiction to family relationships and some deep thoughts on time-travel and how it would change the future. It seemed a slightly more mature middle grade novel and will be especially great for a middle grader who appreciates the murky complications of relationship with both friends and family.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
I downloaded this book on Edelweiss thinking it was going to be the second book in the Greystones Secrets series. What I found instead was a remarkable standalone novel with a time travel mystery. Marin is eleven and has been recently transplanted from Illionois to Pennsylvania. She climbs a tree in the woods that begin in her backyard and discovers a group of teens who seem to appear and vanish like magic. She soon runs into neighbor boy Charley in the woods and they begin referring to these enigmatic teenagers as the Remarkables. In the midst of the mystery we live life with Marin as she recovers from bullying at her old school, helps care for her baby brother and attends church with her family. In fact, on their first Sunday in their new home Marin's sleep-starved mother declares she needs to attend church rather than get more sleep. Marin and her family also consider having her attend VBS, a regular summer activity for many of the kids I know. Charley's life is markedly different. He and his twin little brothers live with their grandmother while their parents try to shake of drug addiction.
Both Marin and Charley believe the Remarkables are in their lives so that a past mistake made by Charley's dad can be made right. Charley is certain he has seen his dad among the Remarkables. If they are able to enter the time stream with these people from the past, how will they fix the problem? What will such a change in the past do to the future? Why don't all the kids they have seen have the same names as the group of friends that are in articles written about that past catastrophe? Meanwhile, Marin struggles with past relationships in Illinois where she felt bullied and friendless. Will she know how to make friends at her new school? This grace-filled and surprising book deftly deals with so many real-life situations while still providing an intriguing mystery and tugging at the heartstrings.
A big thank you to Katherine Tegen books and Edelweiss for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I have been a fan of Margaret Peterson Haddix's works since reading "Running Out of Time" in the late '90s/early 2000s. Her sci-fi/fantasy is simply fabulous, having that perfect blend of future innovations and realism that really makes you believe that everything in the book could absolutely happen. And I was getting that same sense of realistic fiction coupled with fantasy time travel in The Remarkables and then, WHAM, all of a sudden, I was in tears as main characters Marin and Charley both confront their very real fears and dreams and the fantasy element brings them the hope that those dreams really could come true. Summaries of the plot will abound so let me just discuss the excellent literary elements such as the strong characterization of Marin, the insecure but insightful and gentle female lead, and Charley, the deeply troubled 12 year old searching for redemption and healing for his parents and himself. The long-time ELA teacher in me sees potential lessons in theme, conflict/resolution, characterization and modeling for truly outstanding descriptive writing, especially in the area of creating clear settings. As always, I will excitedly promote this book with my 4th and 5th grade library patrons without any worry about objectionable content. Highly recommended for not only fans of Haddix's action-adventure and sci-fi novels, but for readers of sad-happy heart warmers such as those written by Lisa Graff, Cynthia Lord, Joan Bauer and Barbara O'Connor. Thanks for the digital ARC, Edelweiss.
I loved the way this one ended. It didn't seem like magic to me, although I didn't understand what it was and why Marin and Charley could see the Remarkables, but the plot line was SO COOl and I really appreciated the way that it all tied up in the end. Highly recommended for kids 11-17
Thank you to Katherine Tegen Books for providing a copy of this book at BEA 2019!
While an interesting concept, two major aspects of this book drove my 2-star review.
1. The book is approximately 300 pages long, and the plot didn't actually pick up until 200 pages in. A lot of the story was about her reuniting with some friends and adjusting to her new life in Pennsylvania. The actual plot of the book seemed as an aside.
2. I was not a fan of the dialogue. This book has some pass since it is a children's book. But to me it read like a poor fanfiction rather than an actual novel.
I absolutely love Margaret Peterson Haddix as an author. She has this incredible skill of incorporating intensity and action into children/ young adult books. Unfortunately, this book was probably one of her worse ones and fell a little flat for me.
Marin has just moved to Pennsylvania from Indiana. She has a baby brother, her dad is a teacher, and her mom just got a new job overseeing the nursing program at a college. As Marin explores the woods in her backyard, she sees some teenagers in the house behind hers. They seem to appear and disappear, weird. She encounters Charley, a neighbor, who is the same age as Marin. He sees the teenagers too. As they become friends, they solve the mystery surrounding they teenagers and the house.
Wasn't super impressed with this one, although I normally LOVE all of Haddix's work.
I liked the main character in this book and could relate to her, but I was completely bored and unimpressed with the story. By halfway through, next to nothing had happened and I gave up trying to wait it out. I don't see this being a big attention grabber for a young reader and wouldn't be tempted to recommend it.
From start to end, this was a great book with well rounded, interesting characters and a premise that I absolutely adored. I loved the side conflicts and how the author touched on bullying, family dynamics, and something a bit more literally magical than we usually see in life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Didn't love this. It sounded like it would be more mysterious and interesting, but it took about 50% of the book for things to actually start picking up. And then when it did it detoured. I wished the focus was on the Remarkables. But there were a few other side stories that happened that distracted too much, especially as a middle grade novel. I appreciate that they brought in a different perspective in as far as the bullying front. But again, it felt like a distraction from the main story. Then there was all the stuff with her dad not having a job and then later the struggle of wanting to be a Social Studies teacher instead of a gym teacher, another distraction. I like Charlie's background story about his parents, and the little drama that we thought we were going to delve more into.
It all sort of just fell flat. I tried to read it before, and had to stop and then picked it up again later for another chance, and I'm still feeling meh about it. It fell sort of flat because it started off with this very mysterious feel about time travel or even another dimension since a lot of it takes place in these woods behind the house. But really it's just about them being able to see the future (later discovered) but only small glimpses of the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Everything I've come to expect from Margaret Peterson Haddix. Creative mystery, complex relationships, sibling bonds, family dynamics, and a dash of magic. Nicely done.
"... are the only nice people in the world just nice because they haven't had any really bad things happen to them?"
I love every book written by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Remarkables is no exception. When Mirin and her family move to a new town, she's out exploring the woods in her backyard when she notices a group of teenagers from the neighborhood disappear in thin air, right in front of her eyes. Like Haddix's other stories, this one is unique and engaging with a bit of life's seriousness thrown in. She really is great at channeling the middle grader while not telling the same old story that readers have been told time and time again. I believe kids will love this book just as much as they've loved her others.
One of the best young adult books I've read this year. It's a great story about friendship, differences, and looking toward the future. I'll highly recommend it to any student :)
Thank you to the author & publisher for sharing a copy with our #bookexpedition group.
The summer before Marin starts 6th grade, her family makes the move from IL to PA due to an amazing job offer for her mom. Leaving IL after a big fight with her two best friends and being the new kid, Marin is lonely and begins exploring the area, entering the woods behind her house and climbing a tree. She hears high schoolers coming home from school, and she begins observing them. As she’s watching, the group of kids suddenly...disappears. Poof. Gone.
She’s determined to figure out what she saw. She meets a neighbor, Charley, who reveals that he knows about them, too. Charley calls them “The Remarkables” and warms Marin to stay away from them.
With themes of family, friendship, and letting go of the past to focus on the present and future, this middle grade story is full of surprises and plot twists. Recommend for grades 4 and up, and publishes on 9/24/19.
In my elementary library, I often get asked for scary stories recommendations and I always hesitate, because honestly, I haven't read that many - I don't know if this story quite qualifies as scary, but it is certainly suspenseful and a good mystery for upper elementary. It also has some good lessons. I have to get over my reluctance to recommend books that include real life struggles the student population at my school faces.
I came across this great new book at a Charlotte library after I had locked myself out of a car and was waiting to be rescued. After checking out my crochet pattern books, I found I had stranded myself for a while, so I wandered back in to the lower floor (which happened to be the juvenile department) and headed for the H stacks. I'm a major Margaret Peterson Haddix fan after being introduced to her years ago by a friend who's a Children's Librarian.
Haddix is always a good choice if you're looking for a quick read or a suspense that will be reliably clean and thought-provoking. She brings up realistic problems and conflicts for her characters, whether they are preteens or teens, that young people reading her books could identify with, and sometimes, but not always, adds thrilling supernatural events into their lives!
The major themes of the book are friendship and family dynamics. The plot revolves around an 11-year-old girl who just moved into a new town a few states away, where she discovers a mystery. There are discussions about transitioning from childhood to young adulthood, as well as theories about time travel. The characters are so lifelike and believable that I found the resolutions of the various conflicts to be almost therapeutic. I also appreciated the positive portrayal of a dad. Males typically are not major positive characters and usually are in the background, indifferent to kids, and often stereotypically immoral, even in kids' books (like in One For the Murphys). There are a lot of good men out there who genuinely care about kids and dream of having their own families to be involved in.
There is no doubt in my mind that Haddix writes from an authentic faith in Christ, because she brings ordinary Christian kids into her stories who are like real kids you'd meet at church. Though lots of U. S. American kids of all colors attend church every week, you almost never find church or church figures mentioned in intermediate fiction published in the past few decades, even if it's about a nice family like the Penderwicks. Haddix doesn't need to have a special publisher or to spend chapters preaching at the reader to bring up this topic in her stories. It happens "organically," as they say. Regardless of whether you include a sermon or Bible verse, hope and positivity are valuable to all young readers, and you'll find that here, when you may not be expecting it.
"Are the only nice people in the world just nice because they haven't had any really bad things happen to them?"
This naive question, posed by a child, really struck me and this book does a decent job of explaining that there really are not any people in the world who have not had really bad things happen to them. This one is a healing story with some nice reminders about how to handle bullying and, most importantly, please turn to your parent or guardian if you are being mistreated. Yes, there is a supernatural twist, but it is a sweet one that offers up hope and strength. I really enjoyed it both as an October read and as a lift.
I have been a fan of Margaret Peterson Haddix for years. In The Remarkables, she reminds readers how every 11-year-old feels weird, how changes and the past affect us all, yet how they do not have to define us. Thank you for a delightful trip into Marin's and Charley's lives and the chance to get in touch with my inner-preteen.