Review by Booklist Review
One night in Fort Myers, Florida, a van pauses on the road just long enough to disgorge five blindfolded 16-year-olds before it takes off into the dark. These particular teens are five of the six that were kidnapped as kindergarteners and have been missing for 11 years. Their return leads to murder charges, a media circus, flashbacks, and adjustment issues as they try to uncover what happened to them and who did it. The novel spans the first two weeks of the teens' return the time it takes to solve the kidnapping and murder case and is told by an omniscient narrator relating the story through three teens. Altebrando utilizes distinctive formatting to illuminate character and offer clues, and though at times this feels somewhat contrived, the skilled, controlled reveal of clues and insights builds in a highly satisfying way. The result is a believable and clever story that references current events (school shootings) and will keep readers engaged from beginning to end.--Welch, Cindy Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Reader Vacker does an outstanding job of portraying the trio of main characters in Altebrando's unsettling YA novel set in a small town in Florida where, 11 years earlier, six children disappeared on their first day of kindergarten. The story opens as five of the six missing kids suddenly return with no memory of what happened. The novel's alternating chapters are devoted to two of the returning teens, Scarlett and Lucas, and Avery, whose older brother is still missing. Scarlett is poetic, perplexed, and surprisingly tolerant of her mother, who's obsessed with space aliens. Lucas is a realist with a potential for volatility that's tested when his father dies soon after Lucas's return. Avery's chapters mark her as good-hearted, moody, impatient, and selfish-in short, the novel's most believable teenager. Other characters, though well-performed, are strictly minor, including the remaining kidnap victims. In the print edition, Altebrando uses word art-dashes, slashes, white text in black boxes-to convey the moods of Scarlett and Lucas, but Vacker's on-target emotional performances are equally effective in capturing the characters' highs and lows. Vacker's trenchant and stirring performance will captivate listeners from start to finish. Ages 13-up. A Bloomsbury hardcover. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-One day, six kindergarteners disappear without a trace. Eleven years later, five of the kids, now teenagers, return, but the mysteries have only multiplied. Though Lucas, Scarlett, Kristen, Adam, and Sarah operate on a developmentally appropriate level (speaking, reading, and writing like typical adolescents), they have no memory of anything from the last 11 years-and no explanation of why Max, who also left, isn't with them. Were they kidnapped? Abducted by aliens? Were they victims of some psychological experiment? Readers follow Lucas and Scarlett, who suspect that they might have had a romantic relationship in the past, and Avery, Max's younger sister, who clings to the hope that her brother will return and who finds herself drawn to Lucas, as the teens try to piece together just what happened and why. Depicting characters with few memories, Altebrando has effectively established an often eerie and unsettling mood, and the creative use of typography adds to the feeling of disorientation. The prose has a sense of urgency, and brief chapters will keep teens turning the pages. However, this is no mere thriller; folded into this compulsively readable work are thought-provoking themes. What is the link between identity and memory? Are we better off without painful remembrances? As the book concludes, characters-and readers-will still be contemplating these challenging questions. VERDICT Teens who enjoy engrossing, contemplative titles such as Adam Silvera's More Happy Than Not will devour this insightful musing on memory and identity.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Eleven years after six kindergartners disappeared, five of them return, all with amnesia. Returnees Scarlett and Lucas try to make sense of their fractured memories, while Avery, the sister of the missing sixth teen, receives mysterious warning notes, supposedly from him. Though Scarlett and Lucas's romance doesn't hold up as a plot engine, the vivid prose and twisty mystery will pull readers through. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Five teens who were part of a group of six that vanished as kindergartners reappear as mysteriously as they went missing in this thriller. Scarlett, Lucas, Sarah, Adam, and Kristen are dropped off in a park, each with a map to their respective homes tucked into their pockets. None of them has any memory of how they got there, who was driving the van that dropped them off, nor where they've been for the past 11 years. The agony experienced by their families has taken its toll, and the homes they return to are troubled places. This is only further complicated by the fact that Max, the sixth boy who disappeared with them, has not returned, and none of them has any memory of who he is. This multilayered story is told from the perspectives of Scarlett, Lucas, and Max's younger sister, Avery, all of whom come from white families, though of varying economic backgrounds. Their voices are distinct from one another, with Scarlett's narrative employing the most unconventional structure: sentences curve into various shapes on the page, and typed slashes evocatively illustrate how her mind reels. The eventual reveal is intricate and a long time coming, but it will satisfy. A twisting and turning mystery that will grip readers even if it is at times a bit difficult to follow. (Thriller. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
