The Deceivers

Chess, Emma, and Finn Greystone knew nothing about a second world until their mother disappeared. That other world mirrors ours, but everything in it has gone wrong and turned sinister. Their mother tried to repair it, but she and an ally became trapped there along with Ms. Morales, the mother of the Greystones' friend Natalie.

Now the four children, Chess, Emma, Finn, and Natalie, are determined to bring everyone home. Getting them back means returning to that mirror world, where honesty itself can be against the law. Chess wonders whether he will ever find the courage the situation demands. Emma, for all her intelligence, cannot crack the puzzle in front of her. Finn is hiding his worries behind a show of calm. Natalie has grown so used to deception in that world that she no longer knows what to believe, including some things she secretly hopes are real.

This is the second book in the Greystone Secrets series by Margaret Peterson Haddix, a writer of many middle-grade and young adult novels. The story continues to follow the Greystone children as it examines how the power of truth and lies can shape people, society, and even the nature of reality.