Moonleapers is compelling, high-stakes time-travel fare in which a 12-year-old's new phone reveals unexpected connections between her sick great-aunt, "moonleapers," government spies, and herself.
Maisie is delighted to be finally getting her own phone, a hand-me-down from Great-Aunt Hazel. Unfortunately, she's receiving the phone because Hazel is "really, really sick" and Maisie and the rest of her family will be moving to Maryland for the summer. Maisie's first-ever text on Hazel's old phone is an unknown number: "Hey diddle diddle/ Are you ready for your riddle?" The message is confusing, as is the blank, old-fashioned-looking book titled Guide for Moonleapers Maisie's mother hands her, saying, "it might make you feel closer to Great-Aunt Hazel." Maisie decides to correspond with the anonymous texter and begins answering the riddles; when she does, writing appears on some of the previously empty pages of the guide. Then, Maisie accepts a call from the "MOONLEAPERS HOTLINE"--the girl on the other end is "from a different century." She tells Maisie that time itself can be "taken apart and reknit in a better way" and that the two of them, plus Hazel, must "change the world."
Margaret Peterson Haddix (Running Out of Time) masterfully grounds her suspenseful series opener in contemporary dynamics, such as Maisie feeling "weird" and not fitting in at school. The cryptic communications advance the narrative and raise the stakes until, by the end of Maisie's time in Maryland, readers can well believe she has thwarted Nazis, saved lives, and is now one of a privileged few who can both see and affect the past and future. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author