The Missing Girl

December 17, 2007
A stranger stalks the five sisters of a closely knit family in this taut drama. Alternating the viewpoints of the predator, who cultivates the anonymous appearance of “any respectable, ordinary man,” and the Herbert girls, who cross his path each day on their way to and from school, Mazer (After the Rain
) keeps readers on the edge of their seats with the knowledge that one of the five will be targeted for foul play. Distracted by worries—their father's disabling injury, dwindling funds, and individual problems they face at school—the girls pay little notice to the man and are oblivious to his growing fixation on the youngest sister, 11-year-old Autumn. The author relays her subsequent kidnapping suspensefully yet judiciously, conveying the terror Autumn experiences but only suggesting her actual molestation. Sharply delineated characters, engrossing narrative and Mazer's keen insight into the psychology of both stalker and victim keep the tension ratcheted way, way up. Ages 12-up.

Starred review from December 15, 2007
Like Robert CormiersTenderness (1997), this novel peeks into the mind of avillainwithominous effectiveness.The story unfolds through several viewpointsincluding that of an obsessive predator, who might have been plucked right out of adultcrime fiction.Thefive Herbert sistersdont know hes watching them.Theyretoo preoccupied by theirown needs: Beauty, theoldest (who isactually quite plain), counts the days until shecanleave home;Fancy, learning-disabled, talks and talks and drives everybody crazy with herchatter; and Autumn, the youngest, feels ignored within hernoisy, busy family. Becausemoney is tight, 14-year-old Stevie, the angry and emotional sister, ischosento move in with an aunt.On the day of her departure, while the family is in sad confusion, 11-year-old Autumn disappears. Her confinementin the kidnappers homeis horrific, and thoughMazerisnt overly graphic, she does include somechilling sequences.Autumns escape (if very like a made-for-TV movie scene) is both grippingand satisfying, yettheressubstance here, too.Mazers strong characterizationsand her portrayal of family relationships stand out. Quiet Mim, the second oldest, does fade into the background (that she turns out to be gay seems an awkward attempt at differentiation), but the othersangry, selfish, andloving by turnsbecome distinct within the first several chapters, and their bonds as sistersemerge asauthentic andasstrong assteel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 1, 2008
Gr 7 Up-This well-crafted thriller with mythic undertones plays on contemporary fears of psychopathic pedophiles, child abduction, and sexually motivated murder, but it also offers readers rewards beyond sensationalism. The central characters are five sisters, each with a distinct personality, whotaken as a groupprovide a delightful composite. Sensible Beauty, the oldest, is inaptly named and longs for love; wise Mim keeps her own counsel; brave Stevie acts first and thinks later; Fancy is intellectually delayed, but emotionally centered; and Autumn, the youngest, doesn't yet have a sense of self and writes in the second-person singular. As their daily life unfolds, they are watched by today's predatory wolf, a lonely, nameless man who observes the girls with a growing obsession. The story is alternately told from the viewpoints of three of the sisters and the abductor, and much of the suspense comes from readers knowing more than any one character. When the stalker finally makes his move and kidnaps Autumn, the pace and anxiety amp up dramatically. Scenes between the child and her abductor are chilling, and the family's grief and guilt are devastating. But there is also wisdom here, as readers see how the crisis brings out greater depth and capacity in all five girls. It is Autumn, though, who must call on all the qualities "divided up" in her family in order to survive. This riveting story ultimately reassures readers that with determination, forethought, courage, and luck, even the youngest of children can meet overwhelming odds and find their way home again."Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2008
"If the man is lucky, in the morning on his way to work, he sees the girls." So begins this chilling novel, in which readers meet both the man and the girls, the five Herbert sisters. Alternating chapters tell the story from four different perspectives: that of the unnamed man and three of the five sisters -- Beauty, the oldest at seventeen; bubbly Fancy, twelve and "special needs"; and eleven-year-old Autumn, who sometimes feels overlooked. The sisters go about their lives in their small upstate New York town, unaware of the man's obsession with them, until Autumn gets lost one day and asks the man for directions. She doesn't know how pleased he is that by doing so, she becomes his "guest": a prisoner in a room with only a cot and bucket. Autumn survives for days (the worst is only implied) until she finds the strength -- literally and figuratively -- to escape. The man's point of view is told in measured, perfectly creepy prose, whereas Autumn's increasingly desperate perspective, told in the second person ("You don't get it. Then you do. He's nailing the window shut. He's nailing you in"), is instantly involving. Mazer has crafted a skillful psychological examination of a disturbed, dangerous predator and of a family that experiences trauma. Readers will fly through the pages, not realizing until the end that they've been holding their breath.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2008
In this chilling novel, five sisters go about their lives, unaware of a man's obsession with them until one becomes his prisoner. Alternating chapters tell the story from three of the sisters' perspectives and the man's point of view, told in measured, creepy prose. Mazer crafts a skillful psychological examination of a disturbed, dangerous predator and a family that experiences trauma.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)