Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com

The Herbert sisters are completely ignorant of the man watching them. They don't realize his growing and dangerous fascination. They are completely oblivious to the fact that their safety is in jeopardy.

It's only a matter of time now.

THE MISSING GIRL is a tremendous read. Thrilling, suspenseful, and riveting, Mazer easily pulls the reader into the intricately woven story, causing shock, horror, and yet compassion as well.

This is a bold story that will rise above and beyond your expectations as the author charms her way into the readers' hearts through her beautiful characters and terrifying plot.

This is one book that is impossible to put down. ( )

Did you ever wonder how you might escape from a psychopath? ( )

The Missing Girl, by Norma Fox Mazer

Five sisters, all with unique personalities: Beauty is the oldest, but she doesn’t live up to her name; Mim is the quiet, introspective sister who can calm the group; Stevie doesn’t want to live by the rules, she just wants to play the game her way; Fancy lives in her own world that revolves around her teacher and what she tells her special ed class; Autumn is the youngest at eleven years old...

The sisters are close in ways, but their lives are not as happy as they could be. The girls’ mother works hard to make ends meet since their father was hurt in an accident, but the money isn’t coming in. The fighting and stress between the parents is overwhelming, most notably at the dinner table, but life goes on.

What the girls don’t know is that someone is watching them, deciding which one he would want to take. He keeps telling himself that his thoughts are all a fantasy in his mind, that he won’t act upon them.. And that’s harmless, isn’t it? To think about it and not commit the act? But sometimes you can’t help yourself…

The girls’ world collapses when Autumn suddenly disappears. Where is she? What happened to her? Find out in The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer. ( )

One of several sisters is abducted. It has a little bit of the mindset of the predator, and how he watches until he has the open opportunity to seize. The little girl finally escapes.

Someone is watching the Herbert sisters. The girls don’t notice because they are busy with their own problems. . . self-esteem, boys, sexual orientation, their parents fighting, school work, etc. Each chapter is told from a different point of view. We see the watching man’s thoughts become more disturbing. All the while the girls don’t know what’s in store for them.
As usual, Mazer does an excellent job in getting you to turn the page. The short chapters make this a quick and exciting read. She writes the “sad character” so well. A good choice for any library collection geared towards junior high and high school students. ( )

Pretty disturbing, but it was well written. I really like the different narrators; that added a lot of dimension to the story. ( )

My favorite part about this book was the different voices of each of the girls. They had such varied personalities and, once you got to know them, you could easily identify the speaker. However, I'm not sure all the sisters even narrated a chapter, so it was a little unbalanced. There seemed to be a lot going on in the story at the same time, so none of it was a main focus. And the man was just creepy... Overall, it was a fairly shallow book that didn't make me care about any of the characters. ( )

Beauty is the oldest of 5 sisters: Mim, Stevie (Faithful), Fancy, and Autum. She is responsible for bringing extra money in the house, looking after her sisters, and helping out her mother. Her father injured himself falling off a roof and hasn’t been able to work, so money is tight. The story is told from the very different POVs and unique voices of Beauty, Fancy, Autum, and a creepy man who has changes his daily walking route so that he can see some or all of the girls on their way to school. He debates with himself over their positive and negative qualities, trying to pick a favorite. When Autum gets lost in a strange neighborhood and arrives and his house, he takes the opportunity to kidnap her and keep her as his “girlfriend.” The story is creepy and suspenseful without being too explicit, and the girl’s narrative voices are authentic and charmingly awkward. The POV of Beauty and the man is 3rd person omnipotent, Fancy is first person, and Autum is second person. I was fascinated by these choices and their jarring though not unpleasant effect on me as the reader. Autum's second person brought me right into her experience with her kidnapper, and the effect is terrifying. ( )

Story of a young teen who gets abducted, raped, and finally escapes her predator.

Beauty (really homely), MIm (quiet one), Stevie(flamboyant), Fancy (special needs)and Autumn(youngest) are all sisters. Their father has lost his job and they are struggling to make it. The sisters are close and are watched by a convicted Pedophile who has the ability to make himself invisible. Which sister should he choose? One day Autumn leaves the house in a huff when Stevie is leaving to stay with and Aunt in another state and she is abducted by the man. He keeps her and abuses her and finally Autumn manages to escape. Quick read that sucks the reader in. ( )

Five sisters, aged eleven to seventeen, are watched by a man who is tring to determine which of them to abduct. Told in six alternating perspectives (including that of the plotting abductor), this is an intriguing and disturbing psychological thriller from Newbery honor author Norma Fox Mazer. ( )

Meet the five Herbert girls: Autumn, Fancy, Stevie, Mim, and Beauty. They walk to and from school each day, unknowing that a man is watching them, imagining what it would be to speak to them, to touch them. The girls, unaware of the voyeur, continue their daily lives as if nothing bad could ever happen to them. At least nothing worse than their situation at home.

Each chapter of this thrilling book is told from a different perspective, and readers will feel the chill of the man’s eyes on their backs as they read.
( )

This is a suspenseful story of a family with 5 girls and a man who watches them. He keeps tabs on the girls daily and tries to decide which is is favorite. It is told from alternating points of view ofeach of the girls and the man. We learn about problems each is having as well as the family problems when suddenly one of the girls is missing. This is a good story and a quick read. ( )

When this book arrived, I had just planned to thumb through it. I’d never heard of the author or much information about the book. I was a bit curious.

The book itself is small and chunky. I don’t know what it is about that particular shape, but I find it extremely attractive. I found myself scanning the pages.

After reading the inside flap, I had to read a little more. Before I knew it, I was a quarter way through and hadn’t even left my office chair! There was no stopping then. I tossed the rest of the day out the window and moved to a more comfortable spot. The inner dialogue was…amazing is the only word I can think of. Mazer goes from the sweet, innocent voice of a young girl, one who I can pick out of a classroom to a chilling voice of a pedophile. The pedophile's voice is so chilling, it will have you afraid to take your eyes off your own children, even for a second.

The book is listed for teens, but adults should read it. I found myself rereading spots in the book, amazed at this writer’s gift.

For more about this book and others, go to http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/... ( )

Told from several voices. A family of five girls is stalked by a former child molester, who eventually kidnaps one of them. The oldest, Beauty, is counting down the days until she turns 18 and can get out of her small town. Stevie has a boyfriend she's kept secret. The middle one, Fancy, is mentally challenged. Autumn, the one who goes missing, tries her best to please everyone. The father is out of work on disability and the mother does not take very good care of them. A very gritty, sometimes tough to stomach, read. ( )

Very Creepy but Compelling!

This book is told in alternating viewpoints of 5 sisters and one very creepy unnamed man. The man is watching the sisters and we “hear” his thoughts about each of them. The 5 sisters; Beauty, Mim, Stevie, Fancy and Autumn are completely unaware of the man watching them.

The author pulls you right into the girl’s lives and they each become real to you. That’s why the man’s stalking of them is increasing disturbing, because we care about these girls. I really wanted to shout at them to Be Careful! several times.

A good quick thriller with no blood nor gore. ( )

Mazer attacks the ticklish subject of pedophilia in a sensitive way. A man has been watching Autumn and her sisters without their knowing it. When she makes the mistake of trusting him, she is abducted to his house. Mazer keeps the drama from becoming too intense for young readers by sifting the point of view between the man, Autumn, and the other sisters. ( )