All That's Missing - Hardcover

Sullivan, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763661023 ISBN 13: 9780763661021

Publisher: Candlewick, 2013

Synopsis

When his grandfather’s dementia raises the specter of foster care, Arlo flees to find his only other family member in this genuine, heartening novel.

Arlo’s grandfather travels in time. Not literally — he just mixes up the past with the present. Arlo holds on as best he can, fixing himself cornflakes for dinner and paying back the owner of the corner store for the sausages Poppo eats without remembering to pay. But how long before someone finds out that Arlo is taking care of the grandfather he lives with instead of the other way around? When Poppo lands in the hospital and a social worker comes to take charge, Arlo’s fear of foster care sends him alone across three hundred miles. Armed with a name and a town, Arlo finds his only other family member — the grandmother he doesn’t remember ever meeting. But just finding her isn’t enough to make them a family. Unfailingly honest and touched with a dash of magical realism, Sarah Sullivan’s evocative debut novel delves into a family mystery and unearths universal truths about home, trust, friendship, and strength — all the things a boy needs.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Sullivan is the author of Dear Baby: Letters from Your Big Brother and Passing the Music Down. This is her first novel. Sarah Sullivan has an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College and lives in West Virginia.

Reviews

Eleven-year-old Arlo lives alone with his loving but increasingly confused grandfather, Poppo. Then Poppo has a stroke and social services steps in. One terrible night in a shelter convinces Arlo that his only option is to try to find his only remaining family member—his estranged grandmother, Ida Jones. But after he does manage to reach her, Arlo discovers that a bigger challenge will be bridging the gap left by years of animosity between Idaand Poppo. Arlo struggles to understand the adult world and maintain control of his destiny, but his tools are eavesdropping and reading body language, both so easy to misinterpret. Sullivan’s debut novel beautifully balances the big issues in Arlo’s life with his smaller, more immediate concerns: his dog, an adventurous friend, and the magic of a wooden eagle carved by his father. The characters’ race is often left ambiguous, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Filled with heart, this will appeal to fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn-Dixie (2000) or Eva Ibbotson’s One Dog and His Boy (2012). Grades 5-8. --Diane Colson

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763661023
• ISBN 13: 9780763661021
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368