Dead to You [Hardcover]

Lisa McMann (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 7, 2012

A page-turning realistic novel with a shocking twist from bestselling author Lisa McMann.

Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle…at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Abducted at age seven, Ethan Manuel De Wilde grew up with a woman who loved him but couldn’t take care of him, ultimately leaving him in an orphanage. After running away and living on the streets, he finds a photo of himself while searching a website for missing children. Now 16, he returns to his loving family but finds it difficult to reestablish relationships, especially with his younger brother, Blake, who doesn’t believe he’s the real Ethan. McMann piercingly depicts Ethan’s mental illness as he suffers from anxiety attacks, bonds with his new little sister, and fails to understand why he has no memories of life with his real family. And there’s the ethical issue: if he isn’t who he thinks he is, what should he do? The bitter cold of a Minnesota winter serves as both metaphor and backdrop for a riveting read that is like the dark side of Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton (1990). A realistic but shocking ending makes this an excellent choice for book discussion, and the simple sentence structure and complex content will appeal to reluctant readers. Grades 9-12. --Debbie Carton

Review

“ McMann’s narrative is layered and emotional, with constant questions about family dynamics, identity and reconciliation. While an amnesia-based plot risks a quick foray into formula, this resists, balancing the fractured nature of Ethan’s recollections nicely with the character's development. The sibling rivalry builds secondary tension and suspense.”

--Kirkus Reviews

"The bitter cold of a Minnesota winter serves as both metaphor and backdrop for a riveting read that is like the dark side of Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton. A realistic but shocking ending makes this an excellent choice for book discussion, and the simple sentence structure and complex content will appeal to reluctant readers." --Booklist

"McMann's gripping new novel...will leave readers burning for closure long after its chilling ending.... [Her] succinct first-person narrative skillfully carries the authenticity of a teenage boy, his fractured memory and reintegration into a family who expects much from him, despite his scarring childhood. Her exploration of an abductee psyche is both illuminating and unsettling and is realistically portrayed... With a disturbing and raw ending, Dead to You is unforgettable." --Adam Silvera, Books of Wonder

"The dynamics are credible and compelling, and Ethan’s challenge in negotiating the complicated territory will ring true..." --BCCB

"Ethan’s first-person story...successfully explores the emotional devastation on those closest to an abducted child and a child’s ability to cope with trauma. The long-awaited but abrupt conclusion to the story’s central mystery is dramatic, packing an emotional punch." --School Library Journal

"Author Lisa McMann has written strong suspense fiction for teens with powerful, likable characters, and DEAD TO YOU is no exception. She includes many surprise twists in this engrossing page turner while creating a layered situation where it’s possible to sympathize with many points of view." --teenreads.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442403888
• ISBN-13: 978-1442403888
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #692,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi, I'm Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of fiction for young adults and children.

My fantasy series is for ages 9 and up, called THE UNWANTEDS. It's about a society where 13-year-olds are sorted into groups. The strong and intelligent kids are Wanted and they get to go to university. The creative and artistic kids are Unwanted and they are sent to their deaths. Follow 13-year-old twins Aaron and Alex as they are forced down opposite paths. Book 2 in the series, THE UNWANTEDS: Island of Silence, comes out Sept 4, 2012.

I'm also the author of the WAKE trilogy, about a seventeen-year-old girl named Janie who gets sucked into other people's dreams. I have two stand-alone thrillers, CRYER'S CROSS and DEAD TO YOU. Coming soon: CRASH -- it's the first book in the VISIONS series.

I grew up in Michigan and now I live in Arizona with my husband, two teenagers, and two cats. Have a question? Find me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/McMannFan or Twitter @lisa_mcmann.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review from My Overstuffed Bookshelf January 28, 2012

By A. Jacobs VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I am a huge fan of author Lisa McMann after reading her Wake trilogy last year. So when I heard about this book through other readers and noticed it was available through the Amazon Vine program, I jumped on the chance to read and review it early. I did the fan girl squee and clicked accept on my Amazon page. When it arrived, I dropped everything to read this book and even stayed up late just to finish it.

When we start with the first chapter, we are reading about Ethan being reunited with his family after being abducted nine years ago. To say that it is an emotional reunion is an understatement. You can feel the pain that the parents have gone through and have dealt with over the years. They are so excited to have him home that they even accept him on looks alone without agreeing to do the DNA test that the social worker offers to them. When you are reading the book, we are reading from Ethan's point of view and the emotions that he is struggling with. He doesn't remember anything from his time before the abduction and he is desperate to remember anything. He studies the family photos and tries to make something click in his brain so he has something real to remember instead of shared memories from family and friends.

When his younger brother Blake starts studying genetic traits in his science class at school, he starts to piece together some disturbing facts about Ethan. Blake never truly believed that Ethan is the real Ethan. Reading the story, you don't really know what to think about this. At some points you are like Blake and questioning Ethan's true identity, but other times you are believing that it truly is Ethan. When it is revealed at the end of the book, you are shocked and frustrated with the close of the story. It is left in a cliffhanger-like ending that makes you wish there were at least a few more chapters of closure. At this time, I do not know if the author is going to write a sequel to this book, but after the ending she has left the reader with, I hope she seriously thinks about writing it! I would love to learn more about Ethan and his story that follows after the reveal at the end of the book.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars So confused! January 24, 2012

By Book lover VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Oh my! My brain is spinning with this book! I am such a loss for words because everything I thought I felt was completely obliterated in the last 3 pages.
The story is about Ethan, a boy who was abducted when he was seven from the front of his house and who has returned home at the age of sixteen. In the beginning of the book I felt so bad for him. He was trying so hard to fit in and forget his old life with his abductor Ellen. It felt so real. Then towards the middle the story took a weird turn and Ethan started becoming involved with the neighbor girl who was his best friend when he was seven. The romance just felt outta place with all that was going on with him returning home. Then a bombshell gets dropped and we the reader are seriously left hanging! I don't even know what to do with those last three pages! It feels like there should be a sequel coming and I don't think there is one.
The characters all seemed okay. I really liked Ethan and how he interacted with Gracie his six year old sister. They were so sweet together. Even his scenes with Cami, his love interest, were fun to read. They were just out of place in my opinion. The other characters like I said were okay and they all brought something different to the story so as far as character development I was actually connected to all of them. My problem just lies within the story itself and the strange turn it took.
I really hope that there is a sequel. I think I have said that about every Lisa McMann book because they all feel so unfinished.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting premise, not McMann's best February 9, 2012

By The Compulsive Reader VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Ethan was kidnapped when he was seven years old. Now sixteen, he has finally found his way back to his family, but he doesn't remember them or his life before. This lapse in memory makes it hard for him to fit back in after a nine year absence--his parents are supportive but tend to smother him, his younger brother is angry all the time and isn't welcoming at all, and his six-year-old sister feels like his replacement. Everyone is trying to make things work, but there's a secret being kept--one that, if revealed, could wreak havoc on the family once more.

Lisa McMann's latest book may not have the supernatural elements that fans have come to expect in her work, but it has all of the trademark suspense, mystery, and sharp, direct narrative that make her novels so readable. She hooks you in right away with this intriguing premise, and Ethan's voice. Ethan is a bit damaged--he's been through a lot, and not being able to remember his family is tough. What's even harder are his good memories of Ellen, the woman who took care of him for so many years, when everyone wants to make her out to be a hardened criminal. He desperately wants to fit into his new family life, but his temper and conflicting emotions make the adjustment hard. All the while there remains the mystery of what has really happened to Ethan throughout the last nine years beyond the basic story he tells everyone, and why he willingly went with his kidnapper that fateful day long ago. As you delve deeper into the story, you'll begin to slowly doubt Ethan and race to the end to find out the truth about what happened--with some shocking answers. McMann's abrupt ending adds to the surprise of the final revelation, and definitely makes it memorable--so much so that readers will forgive her for not revealing more details. Fans of McMann won't want to miss Dead to You, and reluctant readers will zip right through it.

Cover Comments: I like this perspective, and the close up of the snow on the face and lashes--it's cool and little bit eerie!