Missing (Paperback or Softback)

MISSING. That's what the posters say about the girl. But this isn't just another missing kid - not for ten-year-old Calvin Crane. After he bumps into a strange guy at Yellowstone National Park who's secretly removing the posters, Calvin thinks their van is being tailed. Getting murdered isn't on the family itinerary.

In a cramped van full of farts and frito feet with his whiny older sisters, parents and crabby Grandma Edith, Calvin presses forward on a cross-country road trip to California to attend the wedding of a family friend. But as the search for the missing girl widens state-by-state, Calvin can't escape her haunting face. Neither can he shake the eerie feeling that he's being followed - suspicious-looking people, strange vehicles. Who can he trust? His parents think it's just his OCD talking.

As he learns more details about the missing girl, Calvin is forced to face a search of his own: one for self-acceptance. Sometimes being lost is more than just a matter of location. Still, Calvin can't shut off those nagging questions: Where is that little girl? Is he being stalked by a kidnapper? Or is his mind playing tricks on him? Does danger lurk just a couple of steps behind?

"It's reminiscent (in all the best ways) of the young-adventurer novel series of yesteryear-think present-day Hardy Boys, but with only one boy - a smart, smart-mouthed, OCD 10-year-old Black boy. Calvin Crane is a Black urban Henry Huggins; and I wish I'd had Calvin to read about when I was a kid."
-- Larry Duplechan, author of BLACKBIRD, which was adapted into the 2014 feature film starring Oscar-winning actress Mo'Nique.
 
"Thoughtful, evocative, and rich with good humor..."
-- C. Kelly Robinson, Essence Magazine best-selling author of NO MORE MR. NICE GUY

"Chilling and unnerving, MISSING will keep young readers turning the pagewell past bedtime." -- Earl Sewell, National best-selling author of THE KEYSHA DIARIES
"A delightful read. I was on the edge of my seat..."
-- Monica McKayhan, best-selling author of the INDIGO SUMMER series 
"An exhilarating read filled with very amusing, detailed characters...Suspense I didn't see coming that will put you on the edge of your seat..."
-- AAMBC Book Club