The year we disappeared : a father-daughter memoir

Absolutely compelling story told from two perspectives. Cylin was 9 when her father, a hard-nosed cop in a small Maine town was shot in the face at point blank range on his way to work. She recounts the terrible effect it had on her family (mother, 2 brothers and live-in older female cousin Kelly) when they all feared he would die from his wounds and then the horrible realisation when he lived that this was in fact a "hit" gone wrong; and that soon, the person who came after John might come after the rest of the family. The second perspective is that of John - how his anger and need for revenge kept him alive and then how he slowly saw what was happening to his family as they lived in fear and how he realised what he was feeling. show more Throughout the whole novel, you feel for John and Cylin and their hardship; but my greatest concern was for John's poor wife Polly who had to hold the entire family together, become the breadwinner and (because of her nurse's training) carry out the care of John while he was in hospital. A riveting read that is suitable for older readers due to the number of "f" words and the graphic descriptions of the violence that John suffered. Highly recommended. show less

This book was billed as a “father-daughter memoir,” and my daughter expressed interest in reading it. Thus, we decided to read it together. Multiple narrators give voice in this work, and authors are cycled in chapters between Cylin (the daughter) and John (the father).

This is no normal father-daughter relationship, however. The father John, a police officer in Massachusetts, was targeted in a shooting by a crime family. Over decades, he had his face surgically reconstructed after the bullet destroyed his jaw. His family lived under the constant fear of being further targeted. Obviously, this affected their family dynamics. This story seems ripe for a memoir.

Both my daughter and I enjoyed Cylin’s telling more than John’s show more telling. Cylin seems more focused on adjusting to life; John seems more purely angry at the perpetrators, an understandable reaction. John’s wife and two sons also had their lives upended, but Cylin seems to have the most perceptive insight.

I kept waiting for the metaphorical dam to break. I kept waiting for their lives to get back to “normal.” That seemed never to happen. These events changed their lives. They disappeared for a year, yes, but they also changed forever. The family did try to bring good from this horrific circumstance, and they deserve credit for that.

Although written in father-daughter pairings, this story is more about crime than it is about a parent-child relationship. The crime and its aftermath are profoundly interesting. It seems that each family member dealt with the crime in their own way. Eventually, they resumed with life. I’m not sure I’d say that it drew them closer together. The circumstance just made each of them more resilient as individuals. They each grew to have more inner strength. That’s the legacy of this horror, but in the “Where They Are Now” section, the family members seemed to have adapted to their future lives. Overall, it’s a great tragedy. show less

In 1979, Cylin was 9-years old. Her father, John, was police officer in a town in Massachusetts. He was shot in the face and survived, but – even though he was certain who was behind it – the police seemed to not be pursuing it. John believed the person behind the shooting was a local well-known criminal, Raymond Meyer, who also had connections at the police department and was known to be untouchable. Even so, some of the officers, including John, still tried to bring Ray to justice for various crimes.

I thought this was very good. Frustrating about the corruption in the police department and not being able to do anything about Ray for so many different offenses. The viewpoint went back and forth between Cylin and John, so you could show more read about the happenings from each person's perspective. show less

I was surprised that this was classified as a YA book, but after I read it, I realized that it was good that I read the YA version. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, and it turned out to be not at all what I expected. I am glad this was a YA book, because a memoir with this content for adults could have been extremely, and unnecessarily violent.

After starting to read, I realized that it might be a little violent and not my cup of tea. I read past the most difficult part and I have to say that the authors handle the physical parts very well. They don't idolize violence and settle, quite well, into a realistic telling of real people dealing with an unbelievable tragedy. I found that I really got a sense of the fear that show more developed as the situation unfolded as well as the coping skills the family developed to deal with the fear.

The back and forth of father and daughter is well done and not gimmicky at all. I also think the feelings the authors describe seem quite real. It seems authentic the way the dad thinks about keeping his family safe while the daughter is trying to puzzle out what is going on in her family. I think the reasoning she does, based on the information she gets from her mother and other family, shows how children try and create answers in stressful situations even if they don't have all the information.

I was glad the authors selected a short time period and included an epilogue rather than trying to write about the rest of their lives. I would have liked a little bit longer epilogue in order to know things like did Cylin and Amelia stay in touch? show less

In this book, daughter Cylin and father John share the story of what happened to their family in 1979 when John, a police officer, was shot in the head. John wasn't killed, but the bottom of his jaw was shot off and he had a long, painful recovery ahead of him. Worse was the fact that he was certain that the man behind his attempted murder was a local criminal who thought he had the police force in his pocket. John refused to give in to this man's threats and as a result he almost lost his life and his family was put in danger.

The really neat thing about this book is that you get two different perspectives. John writes his story - his painful recovery and crippling anger and frustration at an investigation that went much too slowly. show more Cylin writes her story - constant fear that her dad might die or that someone might be coming to kill her too, social ostracism because police officers followed her wherever she went.

I found it totally compelling and didn't want to put it down. Highly recommended for high schoolers and adults.

Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/02/book-review-year-we-disappeared.html show less

This is a heartbreaking and yet inspirational story about a horrendous act of violence that drove a family to the point of breaking and caused them to go into hiding for their protection. Despite the horror of what was done, this family did not break and managed to go on to not just survive, but thrive. As this is a father-dauther memoir, the POV swings between the father's perspective and that of the daughter, Cylin. I have not liked this dual perspective in other stories, but here it works well, especially since Cylin was only 9 at the time of the incident, it is good to have an adult's perspective. This book came across as one of healing.

August 31, 1979, was a nightmare for the Busby family. John Busby, a police officer, was shot at a very close range on his way to work. He had been targeted by an arsonist who wanted revenge on John. The Year We Disappeared is an emotional memoir wrote by John and his daughter Cylin, who was nine at the time of the shooting. The two talk about the year that followed the horrible tragedy- the police protection, body guards, social isolation by her friends at school, constant fear and pain, and even their family going into hiding. The alternating chapters and flashback memories discuss John’s reconstructive surgeries and the corruption at his police department. This story is a page turner to say the least and is a much more emotional show more read because it is written by the people who suffered. Although not appropriate for younger grades, this book is a perfect edition for a high school classroom or library. show less