MISSING
Catherine Macphail
Bloomsbury
2000
Available: Hard copy, paperback
Maxine Moody's older brother Derek disappeared ten months earlier. Did
he runaway? Was he kidnapped? Is he dead?
Emotionally her parents are so consumed with his disappearance, it's
like she doesn't exist. She takes solace in cutting school and playing video
games at the local arcade in her London, England neighborhood. When the police
find the remains of a dead boy who's identified as her brother, she thinks life
will get better. Her parents will go back to normal. But they don't. Her mother
starts consulting mediums. Her father seems even more distant. Could things get
any worse? Then the impossible thing happens. She receives a phone call from
someone who claims to be her dead brother Derek.
This is a well-paced mystery thriller. Maxine's prickly personality is
both believable and likable. Her angst is real and not fluff. The book also takes both a real and age appropriate look at
the results bullying.
Target audience: Grades 7-9
Mystery suspense: very good
Kid appeal: High
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