Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Falling Out of Time
Margaret Peterson Haddix · 2023
76/100
👍 Worth It
Haddix delivers a fast-paced dystopian mystery that gives middle-grade readers something genuinely worth thinking about — surveillance, exploitation, the gap between comfort and justice — without overwhelming them with adult content. The plausibility gaps Kirkus flagged are real, and the cliffhanger will frustrate readers who want closure now, but the premise is gripping and the social commentary lands at exactly the right level for the age group.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety90
substance75
craft74
originality72
accuracy68
hype78
age-fit85
human-eye76
Penny’s verdict76
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