This book is about a girl, Maxine Moody, and her missing brother, Derek. He has been missing for ten months and no one knows why. Maxine’s parents are very sad and show no attention to Maxine, she feels forgotten. Maxine’s dad had identified Derek’s body and he had the same clothes as when he disappeared. He was now dead and not missing. But the weird thing was that Maxine had received a call from someone who called himself “Derek”, and she always felt someone was watching her. Maxine chose to not tell her mother, that should just make her crazy, what if it was not Derek and just some stupid kid joking? Maxine wishes that Derek was dead so her mother and father could pay some attention to her, something that they never had done in ten months. Derek was bullied in school, was that a reason that he disappeared? Or not?
Maxine was a girl that not had many friends. Her” friends sympathy had turned to annoyance at her behavior” (Page 21). Maxine’s teacher, Miss Ross, was the only one who understood Maxine and her feelings. She was always there for her. Maxine did not spend so much time at school, which her parents were very disappointed, she spent more time thinking. Why did her parents avoided her? And why is her mother in her own bubble? Maxine had a lot to think about so the school was not her first priority.
The writer, Catherine MacPhail, is a Scottish writer. The thriller, called “Missing”, was written in 2000, she writes books for young people. Catherine has won many prices, it proves what a good writer she is. Her first book, 1994 – Run, Zan, Run, she received inspiration from her daughter who was bullied. Most of the books she has written, she got the inspiration from her home town. She describes very well, you can easily get a picture in your head. Here are two examples: “he was laughing as the photo was taken, his face was full of mischief” and “Mum’s eyes lingered on it, remembering too. Her mouth turned up at the corners, a faint hint of a smile”. (Page 27).
The reader will not want to stop reading the book because you always want to know more about what will happen. The chapter usually ends up with something exciting, which is good for you as a reader. The reader will find it easy to understand the story and will easily feel compassion for what is written. The book is about an incident that you as a reader can relate to reality.
Elev SA13