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The Disappearance

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

This novel centers on the unlikely friendship between two boys, Jacob Mueller and Mike McCallum. Jacob seems to be from a different world. After mystifying experts and doctors, who finally decide that he is an elective mute, Jacob ends up in a juvenile group home, isolated and withdrawn, the butt of teasing by the other kids. Mike exists in his own private hell. Scarred physically and emotionally after the murder of his younger brother, his one aim is to survive the system until he is legally old enough to get out. He uses his horrific appearance, imposing size, sharp intelligence, and a calculated brutality to keep everyone at bay—until he encounters Jacob. Almost despite himself, Mike is fascinated by Jacob, particularly the way in which he seems able to shut out the world around him. This fascination deepens and becomes tinged by a mixture of awe and horror when Jacob starts to talk, and appears to have knowledge of Mike's past, and in particular of his dead brother. Mike takes it upon himself to solve the puzzle that is Jacob Mueller, and when he comes to what seems to him to be the impossible conclusion that Jacob is from another time, he makes it his mission to return him home. In order to do so, Mike has to make hard choices: choices which could offer the chance of redemption, but only at great cost.

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    • Kirkus

      July 15, 2017
      A mystery about a bullied boy who goes missing from a group home.As the book opens, white narrator Mike is being interrogated by the police about a missing boy who ran away from their group home with him. Following this prologue, the story jumps back to Mike's arrival at the group home. Foulmouthed, violent Mike tells readers he looks like a "thug," large and carrying horrific facial scars from a cleaver attack at the hands of his mother's boyfriend. He's demonstratively tough in order to prevent others from messing with him. At the group home, he rooms with Jacob, a mysterious, nearly mute white boy found beaten into unconsciousness months prior, who becomes catatonic when overwhelmed. Jacob is subjected to cruel bullying, especially at school and by fellow group-home resident Paddy, whom Mike butts heads with for the top dog spot. After Mike has a bad visit with his mother, Jacob speaks up with a message for Mike--from his dead younger brother, murdered in the attack that scarred Mike. Soon, the bullying escalates dangerously, and Mike both confirms Jacob's strange ability and is thrust into the role of protector--and not just of Jacob. The mystery behind Jacob's supernatural power is straightforward to the point of predictability, but the rich emotional lives of the characters--especially the ways they relate to one another in grief--anchor the magical elements. A fast, compelling read. (Supernatural thriller. 14-18)

      COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • School Library Journal

      September 1, 2017

      Gr 8 Up-Mike, a ninth grader and new boarder at a group home, has an angry streak that stems from his facial disfigurement and his brother Jon's death, both at the hands of his mom's abusive boyfriend. Mike's defensive attitude presents a challenge to Paddy's dominant status in the home. Paddy retaliates by intensifying his bullying of Mike's roommate, Jacob. Jacob is an uncanny boy who communicates with the dead, including Jon. Jacob is not of this time, and Mike helps him journey back to the past. On the night of their journey, Mike finds Paddy abusing Jacob, and Mike loses control, almost killing Paddy. This suspense novel adds a touch of unsettling fantasy. What truly unsettles, though, are the all-too-real social dynamics of the group home, dysfunctional adults, and social institutions that fail to nurture and protect youth, for which Mike's face serves as a reminder. The ambiguous ending that leaves Mike, Jacob, and Paddy's futures unresolved, and the blurring of good and bad, right and wrong, also work to that end. Mike is an antihero with similarities to Paddy: they both bully and share a propensity for violence (although differentiated by motivation). Mike is not a restorative protagonist who will fully reset proper social order; yet through the effective use of his first-person perspective, readers will have faith in Mike and root for him. VERDICT A solid genre-blurring addition that doesn't shy away from realistic violence and language.-Stefanie Hughes, Mt. Pleasant, TX

      Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:830
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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