This blog is for LIBR 267- Award Winning Titles for Youth.
You will find 15 young adult books, 15 picture books, and 10 children books that have won at least
one of the American Library Associations literary awards.
To search just use the tags! Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Missing Girl


Mazer, Norma Fox, The Missing Girl, HarperTeen, 2008, 284 pgs.

Summary: The five Herbert girls have no idea that somebody is watching them. Their lives are consumed by being too poor, too hungry, and too jealous of each other to notice the man who watches them every day. Until one day one of the sisters, Autumn, goes missing. At first Autumn thinks everything will be fine, until the man locks the door and doesn’t let her out. He claims the room has a view. The tiny window is so high on the wall that escape is almost impossible. Or is it? As the days pass Autumn becomes more and more comfortable being a prisoner. Will Autumn ever escape? Does she still want to escape?

Evaluation: This story of predator and prey, of a kidnapped girl trying to escape from this seemingly ordinary house will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you second guess every house in your neighborhood. Full of creepy passages and finally a thrilling escape towards freedom, this novel by Norma Fox Mazer will be hard to put down. I am not one for creepy novels, but I found this story to be so real and well written that before I could stop myself I was almost done. The details of this story make you feel as if you are a fly on the wall in the room watching Autumn counting the hours between meals and wondering if anybody really misses her.

Annotation: The man watched his pretty one trying to open the door. He would be her guest. She would staying in the room with the view.

Significance of Book: This is a truly creepy psychological thriller. Very well written that suggests things such rape and pedophile kidnapping. These are tough things to write about and Norma Fox Mazer does an expert job of it.

Genre/subject: fiction, mystery, kidnapping

Awards:

National:

  • ALA Popular Paperbacks: 2011
  • Best Fiction for Young Adults: 2009

State:

  • Delaware: Diamond Award Nominees: 2010
  • Texas: Tayshas Reading List: 2010

Why I selected the book: I have always felt that Norma Fox Mazer is a classic author and I wanted to give this book a try.

Price: $17.89

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