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Middle Grade Sidekick Super Review: Moonleapers (2025) by Margaret Peterson Haddix
- Feb 27
- 6 min read
The Basics
Page Length: 320
Audiobook Length: ~6.5 hours
Grade Reading Level: 4+
Target Audience Age: 8-13
Goodreads Score: 3.84 out of 5
Buy it HERE
Setting: Present-day Ohio and Maryland (and some time traveling episodes in history)
Genre: Middle Grade Science Fiction/Fantasy
Topics: Time Travel, History, Technology, Riddles, Genealogy, Family
Plot: Maisie McGraw is like a lot of other sixth graders her age—wishing to be normal. To fit in. To have a phone like everyone else. When Mom finally gives her one, it’s not what she expects. It’s an old phone, and she’s only getting it because its previous owner—Great-Aunt Hazel—is dying and wanted Maisie to have it.
Oh, and Mom is moving the family to Maryland for the summer so she can look after Great-Aunt Hazel. The phone will allow Maisie to keep an eye on her two very rowdy and rambunctious younger siblings, Rufus and Dora.
Maisie gratefully accepts the phone, even though it comes with strings attached. But when she starts receiving texts from a mysterious messenger, she wonders if it’s really worth it. She begins receiving riddles, cryptic clues, and strange instructions. Then a book arrives: The Guide for Moonleapers. And then a call comes—from a girl in the future.
Suddenly, Maisie is launched into a world of secret time-traveling agents—one that Great-Aunt Hazel is connected to. She’s given a mission: go back in time and change a piece of Great-Aunt Hazel’s history. But the clock is ticking. Once Great-Aunt Hazel dies, moonleaping into her past will be impossible.
Will Maisie be able to complete her task in time? Will Great-Aunt Hazel’s—and Maisie’s—and the world’s future be changed if she does? And what will happen if she fails?
Themes: Legacy and generational connection, trust and teamwork, growing up/coming of age, impact of choices on the future, history repeating itself
You might like this book if you like:
Riddles and brainteasers
Cats :)
History and genealogy/family history
Books like The Green Futures of Tycho, A Tale of Time City, 12 to 22, Time Traveling with a Hamster, and When You Reach Me
Shows like The Bureau of Magical Things, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Gravity Falls, Doctor Who, Lost in Space
Movies like Back to the Future, The Adam Project, Meet the Robinsons, A Wrinkle in Time, Tomorrowland
Other books written by this author: Shadow Children series; The Missing series; The Palace Chronicles series; Out of Time series; The Greystone Secrets series, 39 Clues series
Teaching Moonleapers in Class
Content
Language: none
Sex/Romance: none
Violence/Scariness: The main character is tasked with decoding a message that ends up revealing a secret Nazi spy and stopping attacks on America. But there is no violence depicted. There is a scene with a helicopter rescue that almost crushes a dog. The book talks a lot of death of a family member and the grief that accompanies it.
Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: none
Class Novel-ability:
I don’t think I would recommend this book as a full class novel. The subject matter may not appeal to an entire class of students, and the slower pace at the beginning might not hook everyone right away. However, once the action picks up, it becomes a fun and engaging story. It’s a great choice for independent reading, especially for students who enjoy science fiction and time-travel adventures.
The Star Qualities
This book is written by an author who has dominated middle-grade fiction for years. She has five other extremely popular middle-grade series your students can dive into right after this one. Margaret Peterson Haddix has 138 books listed on Goodreads! So, if your students become loyal fans, their TBR piles will be endless.
There’s also a second book on the way! It’s expected to be released in October of this year. That’s a bit of a wait—but it’s plenty of time to get your kids excited for the next installment. You can hype it up and make it as thrilling as the release of the next season of their favorite Netflix show!
The historical event that the main characters travel back in time to change is based on a real event during World War II. There really was a group of Nazi spies whose plans to attack important locations in the United States were foiled. (Not by a couple of twelve-year-old girl time travelers, of course—but foiled nonetheless!) Imagine how different history might have been if they had succeeded. This book encourages readers to ask, What if? The author’s note at the end goes into much greater detail about this fascinating piece of history—and it could even inspire a strong classroom lesson.
Book Talk Read Aloud Section
If you have the physical book, read chapter 1 (pages 1-10). If you are short on time, cut this reading to pages 1- top of 7 (through "You're going to let me be like every other sixth grader on the planet")
If you don't, read the same pages (longer reading: locations 430-551, shorter reading: 430-bottom of 499 through "You're going to let me be like every other sixth grader on the planet") in the Kindle reading sample here.
"Reading Like a Writer" Mentor Texts
What stands out most is how the author structures the text messages. Instead of using quotation marks, she changes the font, which makes the texts feel immediate and modern while still working like dialogue. The different fonts for each sender clearly separate their voices, and the spacing — especially isolating certain replies like “We’ll think about it” — adds real dramatic tension. The rapid-fire, emotional questions also feel authentic, capturing exactly how a frustrated sixth grader would text.
This passage is full of craft moves students can easily try themselves: dramatic paragraph breaks, ellipses to show thinking in motion, and powerful sentence fragments for emphasis. These structural choices aren’t just stylistic — they highlight a subtle escalation of internal reflection and emotion. Altogether, the structure mirrors the narrator's shifting thoughts and quietly deepens the internal conflict.
I love this passage because it packs so much suspense into a very short space. It’s action-driven from the start—the narrator hears a cry, she runs, she shouts—and the tension builds with short, punchy fragments, paragraph breaks, dialogue, fast-paced verbs, and ellipses. Then, just as quickly, the suspense is undercut when we realize there’s no real danger at all. All of these moves work together to create a roller-coaster of suspense, emotion, and humor in just a few lines.
Sentences for Combining and Imitation
Sentence sets for combining:
"She looked right and left–making sure the coast was clear–then darted quickly toward Mom’s office." (p. 35)
She looked right.
She looked left.
She was making sure the coast was clear.
Then she darted quickly towards Mom's office.
"And then–still crouching down low, still clutching Little Dog–Maisie backed away from Great-Aunt Hazel’s bed." (p. 229)
And then Maisie backed away from Great-Aunt Hazel's bed.
She was still crouching down low.
She was still clutching Little Dog.
"The desk contained nothing but a laptop and a monitor and a tasteful family portrait (Mom looking elegant, Dad looking distinguished, all three kids laughing at themselves because, for once, Rufus’s hair wasn’t sticking up and Maisie’s dress didn’t have a single wrinkle or stain and Dora wasn’t looking like she was about to do something mischievous.)" (p.36)
The desk contained nothing but a laptop and a monitor and a tasteful family portrait.
Mom looking elegant.
Dad looking distinguished.
All three kids laughing.
They were laughing because for once, Rufus's hair wasn't sticking up.
They were laughing because for once, Maisie's dress didn't have a single wrinkle or stain.
They were laughing because for once, Dora wasn't looking like she was about to do something mischievous.
"But Maisie could picture the other girls exactly, more clearly than ever: Girl-Hazel standing in her old-fashioned kitchen, a wooden spoon in one hand, a smear of flour across her freckled nose, an unruly strand of curls escaping from her braids." (p. 237)
Maisie could picture the other girl exactly.
She could picture her more clearly than ever.
Girl Hazel standing in her old-fashioned kitchen.
A wooden spoon in one hand.
A smear of flour across her freckled nose.
An unruly strand of curls escaping from her braids.
Sentences for Imitation:
"Maisie couldn’t help herself: she hugged the phone to her chest and whirled around in an impromptu dance of pure joy." (p. 5)
"The three dots vanished . . . reappeared . . . vanished . . . and reappeared." (p. 43)
"She looked up, and there was a helicopter–no, two; no, three; no four–high in the sky overhead, coming from beyond the nursing home." (p. 156)
Used this book in your classroom? Tell us how in the comments!
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