Me, the Missing, and the Dead

I think I was expecting this book to be more of a physical search for answers. In some ways it is, but it’s mostly about Lucas coming to terms with his dad’s absence, and learning more about him in the process. And while it was different from what I thought it would be, I found it to be a good read, but for different reasons than I expected.
In many ways Lucas has a maturity that is beyond his years, but when it comes to his dad he’s perpetually ten years old. Typical ten year olds still look at their parents as mostly faultless. Sure, they might be embarrassing from time to time, or maybe aren’t around as much as you’d like, but at that age there’s still vestiges of the belief that your parents are heroes. So it was with show more Lucas and his dad, and his mom must bear the brunt of the reality that comes as those feelings fade. His dad remains a saint while she looks like the angry bad guy. Much of the book deals with Lucas slowly realizing that his father wasn’t a superhero, and dealing with the reality of who he really was.
Violet’s appearance into Lucas’s life results in his desire to get to know his (paternal) grandparents better. These interactions were particularly enjoyable for me as it reminded me of my own visits with my grandparents. There’s also a burgeoning relationship between Lucas and a girl he meets, and their ability to help each other through pain is beautifully written.
This is a relatively short book and a quick read. The journey Lucas takes in order to see the truths of his world and the strange coincidences along the way create a great character-driven story. show less

Summary: 16-year-old Lucas finds an old lady in an urn, who just so happens to have some connection to his missing dad. If he can find out who the dead lady was, can he find his dad?

Review: From the brief description of this on Amazon, I wasn’t interested. It sounded like a ghost story, and I don’t do ghost stories. Or scary movies, for that matter. I’ve been known to sleep with the light on after a particularly creepy episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, for Pete’s sake.

But this book was a finalist for the Morris YA Debut Award this year, so ghost or not, I decided to give it a go.

What an odd little story. I loved it.

It made me laugh, but it also made my heart ache as Lucas comes to grips with his dad’s disappearance. show more Here’s a taste for you:

"If we ever find my dad and he’s dead, I’m going to organize the biggest funeral you’ve ever seen…We’ll play the best music, and everyone he ever knew and liked will be there and cry their eyes out and say really nice things about him. Afterwards, back at our house, we’ll have the best wake and nobody will want to leave. They’ll look after Mum and make sure she’s OK. They’ll phone her every week instead of being too embarrassed to say anything or ever call because there isn’t a body and they’re a bit busy with work and they were his friends really, not hers."

On the funny end of the spectrum, there’s this scene where Lucas interrogates his little brother like a cop, which cracks me up to think of it even now, a good 2 weeks after I finished the book. show less

One night, 15-year-old Lucas Swain enters a taxicab company office and is immediately attracted to a strange urn sitting on the shelf. He learns that it contains the ashes of one Violet Park, a well-known pianist who lived in the neighborhood, and that the urn was left in the backseat of a taxi years ago. Lucas doesn't understand exactly why Violet called out to him from the dead, but he feels certain that it has something to do with his father's disappearance five years ago. Peter Swain, lifetime ladies' man and difficult to love, simply vanished into thin air one day, leaving behind a distressed wife with two children and another on the way.

The more Lucas finds out about Violet, however, the more he may be forced to admit that his show more father was never the hero that Lucas makes him out to be by wearing his clothes and clinging to memories of him.

ME, THE MISSING, AND THE DEAD has a simple but powerful premise. One may hardly believe that a story about a teenage boy who is obsessed with some lady's ashes would work, but it does, and it works beautifully. Lucas (by way of Valentine) keeps a morbid subject funny by constantly interspersing lists in different fonts and by having normal adolescent male observations about his older sister, his friends, and girls. Valentine's language is captivatingly easy to read, even delving into the mystical at appropriate times.

Ultimately this book is about family, forgiveness, and growing up. It should appeal to most audiences and makes for a good, lingering one-time read. show less

Me, the Missing, and the Dead was a cute and funny tale of a teenaged boy who, in his soul-search for his absentee father accidentally stumbles upon an urn with the ashes of a mysterious old lady. He is haunted by the old lady and begins to delve into her past. In doing so, he finds out more about himself, his family, and his missing family. Valentine did an excellent job of mixing an emotionally charged story with teen humor and a hint of the supernatural. I loved it, and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys books about teenaged angst, or who just likes a good laugh.

Lucas is still coming to terms with his father’s disappearance despite the many years that have passed. If only he knew what really happened. Was he hurt, was he abducted by aliens, was he in jail and couldn’t get to a phone? Lucas tries to make excuses for his father, but the truth of the matter is he doesn’t know what happened.Stopping for a cab early one morning he is drawn to an urn that is residing in the cab office. Who knows exactly why Lucas was drawn to the urn, but sometimes we feel connections that can’t be ignored. Once Lucas has the urn in his possession he learns that the woman inside was named Violet. Lucas feels that Violet is communication with him, in some way. And she ultimately helps Lucas tie up the loose show more ends of his life that happen to be very closely intertwined to hers.I wasn’t sure what to expect from Me, the Missing, and the Dead, but I did end up enjoying the book more than I initially thought I would! Lucas’s character is humorous and real. It is easy to relate to him and how is feeling. I knew exactly what it was like not to know your father. Valentine’s writing was refreshing and satisfying. The plot wasn’t too heavy but it also wasn’t just fluff, it was a nice balance of meaning and discovery. The only complaint I have is that the beginning was a little slow, but once the story picked up, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I enjoyed this book and I would love to read more by Valentine. show less

A London teen whose father left years ago decides to rescue an urn (with the ashes of an old lady) from a cab company shelf. The more he learns about who she was, then more he learns that his missing father maybe isn't worthy of the hero worship he's been giving him.
The plot is fun and interesting, but I never warmed to the main character. *shrug*

I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, but it turns out to be one of the best YA books I've read in a long time. Valentine's short book about Lucas's adventures with an urn full of ashes is far more than just some sort of creepy ghost story. Instead, Me, the Missing and the Dead is really about love and family. It's about seeking the truth and what happens when you find it. I definitely loved this book.