The Missing Girl

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 show more “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. show less

In my opinion, this book was 160 pages of buildup for a 20 page climax. So much of this book was dedicated to setting up what would happen and getting into who the characters were, but it got old after a while. It was just too much. The title is definitely misleading because very little of the book has anything to do with a missing girl at all. It took me ages to get into the story and the characters. I only continued to read because I knew that eventually something *should* happen based on the title. If I had known it would take 2/3 of the book, I would have left it on the shelf.

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.

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 show more 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/ show less

Life can be so normal and ordinary until it's not; a stranger can be invisible and ordinary until you find out he's not. The Herbert sisters go through their daily routines and family dramas unaware of the man who covertly observes them every morning.

The nameless watches the five sisters everyday as they walk to school and talk with each other. The man likes chatter and the sight of innocent girls. He wants to blend in with the background and continue to secretly obsess over them. The Herbert family has fallen under tough times, Poppy cant work due to an injury and Mommy's job isn't enough to support a family of seven. Their seventeen year old daughter, Beauty, is also wondering if she'll ever get to leave her family and live a life of her own. Beauty's sisters, Mim, Stevie, Fancy, and Autumn, all have their own hopes, dreams, and problems. One day, the girls are struck with the information that Stevie will be sent to her aunt's house. At this, Stevie becomes furious and brings the show more family down to a broken and gloomy mood. Adding to the chaos, Autumn disappeared! After a couple of days, Autumn manages to escape from the lonely cell that she was locked in, in pain, but alive.
The beginning of this book almost bored me to death. I was starting to give up on this book and question why I wasa still reading it. Then BAM! I finally hit the exciting part when Autumn becomes the missing girl and I couldn't put the book down until I finished. I recommend this book to people who don't mind waiting a long time for the rising action and climax to come in. Norma Fox Mazer's last book, The Missing Girl, intrigued me with its accelerating climax that kept me at the edge of my seat. show less

Gutes Buch, die verschienden Charakter sind aus unterschiedlichen Standpunkten beschrieben.
Geschrieben fuer Jugendliche aber Erwachsene sollten es auch lesen. Es hat mich etwas verstoert gelassen da am Ende vieles ungeklaert blieb. Aber es ist kein Krimi, wie in der Realitaet bleibt immer etwas zurueck. Das regt zum Nachdenken an.