How to Read The Missing Series in Order
Margaret Peterson Haddix's bestselling series, The Missing, blends pulse-pounding science fiction with historical mystery. The story follows thirteen-year-old Jonah Skidmore and his sister, Katherine, who discover that Jonah and dozens of other teenagers in their town are actually famous children kidnapped from different points in history by competitive time travelers from the future. Together, they must travel back in time to return these children to their rightful places in history and repair the damaged timeline.
Because the overarching narrative, the character development of the main protagonists, and the complex rules of the time-travel agency unfold sequentially, the series must be read in publication order. Reading the books out of order will ruin major plot twists and confuse the timeline of Jonah and Katherine's personal journey. Below is the recommended reading path, including the two companion novellas.
The Recommended Reading Order
- Found (2008) – The adventure begins when Jonah and his friend Chip receive mysterious letters and discover they are among 36 babies who appeared out of nowhere on a pilotless plane.
- Sent (2009) – Jonah, Katherine, Chip, and Alex are sent back to 15th-century England (1483) to face the executioner's block as the Princes in the Tower.
- Sabotaged (2010) – The siblings travel to the lost colony of Roanoke in 1600 to return Virginia Dare, only to find the mission hijacked by a mysterious saboteur.
- Torn (2011) – The team lands aboard the ship Discovery in 1611 during a icy mutiny, tasked with saving explorer Henry Hudson's son, John.
- Caught (2012) – Jonah and Katherine find themselves in 1903, dealing with Albert Einstein's daughter Lieserl and a timeline that is rapidly unraveling.
- Sought (2013) – Companion Novella. Focused on Daniella McCarthy in the present day as she receives strange, predictive phone calls. This ebook short story is best read here, immediately before the events of Risked.
- Risked (2013) – Jonah and Katherine travel to 1918 Siberia during the Russian Revolution to rescue the Grand Duchess Anastasia and Tsarevitch Alexei of the Romanov family.
- Rescued (2014) – Companion Novella. Set immediately after Risked, this story resolves the fate of Leonid, the loyal servant of the Romanov family stranded in the time hollow.
- Revealed (2014) – The mystery hits close to home in the 21st century as the true identity of the final missing child—linked to the Lindbergh kidnapping of 1932—is exposed, threatening to collapse time itself.
- Redeemed (2015) – The high-stakes finale where Jonah must navigate a severely glitched, corrupted future to restore the timeline and save everyone he loves.
Publication Order vs. Historical Chronology
For some time-travel series, readers debate whether to read chronologically by the historical era visited or by the release date. In the case of The Missing, reading chronologically by historical destination is highly discouraged. If you were to read by history, the sequence would look like this:
- 1483 England (Sent)
- 1600 Roanoke (Sabotaged)
- 1611 Hudson Bay (Torn)
- 1903 Europe/America (Caught)
- 1918 Russia (Risked)
- 1932 New Jersey (Revealed)
Reading in this order breaks the narrative logic completely. The characters' understanding of the time-travel technology, their relationships with characters like JB (the time-travel supervisor), and the mystery surrounding the competing factions of future time travelers (such as the Elixir Corporation) are built sequentially from the ground up starting in Found. Furthermore, the novellas Sought and Rescued rely heavily on the events of the books immediately preceding them. Stick to the publication order for the best experience.
What to Know Before You Start
Before diving into The Missing, here are a few key details that will help you enjoy the series to its fullest:
- Historical Grounding: While the sci-fi elements are speculative, Margaret Peterson Haddix heavily researched each historical period. The books feature real historical figures like King Edward V, Virginia Dare, Lieserl Einstein, and the Romanovs, presenting their mysteries as the central plot points of the time-travel missions.
- Target Audience: The series is officially recommended for readers aged 8 to 12 (middle-grade), but the moral dilemmas, historical details, and complex sci-fi mechanics make it an engaging read for teens and young adults as well.
- The Companion Novellas: While Sought and Rescued are short ebook exclusives, they are not filler. They provide deep, emotional context for the historical kids (especially the Romanov arc) and enrich the character dynamics before heading into the final chapters of the saga.
- No Standalones: Do not attempt to read these books as standalone novels. Each book picks up almost immediately after the cliffhanger ending of the previous volume, meaning they function as chapters of a single massive story.