Enchanting Review: The Missing Girl

THE MISSING GIRL

NORMA FOX MAZER

YA Contemporary

Harper Collins

ISBN# 978-0064473651

304 pages

$8.99

Paperback—Available now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

This is the story of the five Herbert sisters and the man who watches them in the shadows. Beauty is the oldest that can’t wait to leave the small town. Mim is the sensitive one. Stevie is the rebellious one. Fancy is the one with special needs. Autumn is the youngest.

The man is very ordinary. He watches his chickadees, planning on which one he’ll take. The girls are unaware of this and continue with their lives until their family security is shattered one fateful day when the man makes his decision with painful consequences.

I admit at times this book was hard to read considering I’m the mother of a small child. This is a very chilling and at times disturbing story of a man who watches and waits to kidnap a girl. I was disturbed at how much the author revealed about the man’s plans and his thinking so much so that I found myself checking my surroundings more than once.

This novel is told from alternating points of view that at times confused me. I almost think it would have been better if the author had stayed with only one point of view. By having all five sister’s voices throughout this novel I didn’t feel a real connection with any of them. Also the parents were in the background. I wanted to know what they were feeling and to show how a tragedy rips apart a family.

At the end of the book is a study guide and other interesting information on how the author came up with the idea of THE MISSING GIRL. I think this book would be a great book club selection. Also it would be great for discussions afterwards.

Norma Fox Mazer died in 2009 and THE MISSING GIRL is her last novel. Her career as an author of teenage books spanned forty years. Her books won many awards, including the ALAN Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and the Christopher Award.

Kim

ENCHANTING REVIEWS

April 2010

Enchanting Review: The Missing Girl

THE MISSING GIRL

NORMA FOX MAZER

YA Thriller

HarperTeen

ISBN# 978-0-06-623776-3

284 pages

$16.99

Print – Available now

Rating: 3.5 Enchantments

There is a man. He appears nondescript, which is the way he prefers it. He lives in an isolated house with two cats, each named after one of his parents. He harbors a few dark secrets, but from the outside, no one can tell. No one really notices him at all, which is why he can so easily watch the five Herbert girls.

These five sisters, Beauty, Mim, Stevie, Fancy, and Autumn, are completely unaware of the man who watches them. They instead go about their own lives, dealing with school, unrequited love, and their own hopes and dreams while bickering and getting along as only sisters can.

These sisters take each other for granted until they find out that one of them will be sent away to live with a relative to ease the Herbert’s financial troubles. But it takes the disappearance of another sister to really bring the others together. THE MISSING GIRL tells the story of these sisters and their secret watcher while seamlessly weaving in themes about family and love.

I really liked the premise behind THE MISSING GIRL, a group of girls and their stalker, and the alternate narrations which gave the perspectives of each sister as well as the mystery man. However, the frequently changing points-of-view were sometimes confusing and unbalanced and actually worked against the novel in the end. The problem was that each girl had her own story, as did their stalker, but Mazer only follows through with a couple of these threads. Also, I would feel sympathy for one of the sisters only to have her narration cut off by another sister; thus I would forget the first sister. It was difficult for me to get attached to these girls despite the short bursts of sympathy I felt for them. Frankly, there was too much going on in the beginning for my taste and not this entire plot jumble survived until the end. I was also disappointed that the story wasn’t more exciting. Despite THE MISSING GIRL’s less than satisfactory execution, I enjoyed the insights into the mind of the kidnapper and his victim and the importance of family. This novel was an ambitious attempt but unfortunately, not entirely successful.

Norma Fox Mazer is the author of numerous other young adult novels besides THE MISSING GIRL, including MISSING PIECES, OUT OF CONTROL, and AFTER THE RAIN.

Rachael Stein

Enchanting Reviews

September 2008