Missing - Softcover

MacPhail, Catherine

3.57

1,185 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747548730 ISBN 13: 9780747548737

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2000

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This title is for the age-range: 12+. Maxine's parents have had to do perhaps the worst possible thing: confirm the identity of her brother Derek's body by the clothes he was wearing when he disappeared. So the brother who was missing is now officially dead. But then the worst possible thing really happens: Maxine receives a telephone call from somebody saying he is her brother. She can hardly believe her ears. Has Derek come back from the dead? In this pacy thriller, the author manages to confront many issues including: how different people deal with grief/the very under-rated effect of severe bullying at school/sibling rivalry - all in a fast-paced compelling narrative voice.

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About the Author:

This is Cathy MacPhail's first novel for Bloomsbury. She has an impressive track record, having also been published by Puffin, and winning the Kathleen Fidler Award with her first novel, Run Zan Run,and the Scottish Arts Counil Award with her second novel 'Fighting Back'. Her work is enormously popular with children, her trademarks being a mix of humour, with pacy and topical story-lines. Cathy lives in Greenock, Scotland.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8-Maxine Moody, 13, is struggling with the disappearance of her older brother. Her emotions run from guilt for wishing Derek dead to rage at her parents' seeming indifference toward her, and her guilt deepens when her father identifies Derek's body. The Moody family begins to unravel further as her mother seeks comfort from psychics and her father refuses to talk about his son or his wife's deteriorating health. Matters worsen when someone begins calling Maxine, identifying himself as Derek. She thinks that the calls may be the doing of the vicious class bully, who had taunted her brother. Unable to turn to her parents, she confides in her new friend Cam, who agrees to go with her to meet the mystery caller. The plot initially catches readers' interest, but then it branches into many poorly developed subplots, and the thin characterizations make it difficult to care about these people and their problems. The conclusion seems contrived when all the conflicts are solved and Derek returns home. Fans of the mystery/suspense genre will be better served with titles by Caroline Cooney and Lois Duncan.
Angela M. Ottman, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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