Missing [Paperback]

Catherine MacPhail (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2005

Age range: 12+ Maxine's parents have had to do perhaps the worst possible thing: confirm the identity of her brother Derek's body by the clothes he was wearing when he disappeared. So the brother who was missing is now officially dead. But then the worst possible thing really happens: Maxine receives a telephone call from somebody saying he is her brother. She can hardly believe her ears. Has Derek come back from the dead? In this pacy thriller the author manages to confront many issues including: how different people deal with grief/the very under-rated effect of severe bullying at school/sibling rivalry - all in a fast-paced compelling narrative voice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thirteen-year-old Maxine, protagonist of MacPhail's (Run Zan Run) unconvincing novel, believes that her parents "hadn't any room in their thoughts, in their hearts... for her"; her older brother has been missing for 10 months, and they are obsessed with finding him. Sometimes she almost hates Derek and sometimes she wishes that "he had just died." But after her father identifies his body, her mother is inconsolable and begins seeking out mediums to communicate with her dead son. Meanwhile, Maxine receives mysterious phone calls from someone claiming to be Derek; Maxine wonders if it's a ghost or a bully out to hurt her, or perhaps it really is her brother after all. While Maxine's complicated feelings for her missing brother are understandable, other aspects of the novel, unfortunately, come across as too extreme, such as Maxine's father's angry reactions to her skipping school and to her attempts to talk to him about the phone calls, as well as the remarkably facile family therapy session in which Maxine is finally able to tell her parents how neglected she feels and get confirmation of their love. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Maxine Moody, 13, is struggling with the disappearance of her older brother. Her emotions run from guilt for wishing Derek dead to rage at her parents' seeming indifference toward her, and her guilt deepens when her father identifies Derek's body. The Moody family begins to unravel further as her mother seeks comfort from psychics and her father refuses to talk about his son or his wife's deteriorating health. Matters worsen when someone begins calling Maxine, identifying himself as Derek. She thinks that the calls may be the doing of the vicious class bully, who had taunted her brother. Unable to turn to her parents, she confides in her new friend Cam, who agrees to go with her to meet the mystery caller. The plot initially catches readers' interest, but then it branches into many poorly developed subplots, and the thin characterizations make it difficult to care about these people and their problems. The conclusion seems contrived when all the conflicts are solved and Derek returns home. Fans of the mystery/suspense genre will be better served with titles by Caroline Cooney and Lois Duncan.
Angela M. Ottman, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury; Rejacketed edition (June 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747578354
• ISBN-13: 978-0747578352
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,306,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book!, June 11, 2006

By 

Kelly "Kel" (Florida, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missing (Hardcover)

This book was really good. Short summary: Maxine Moody has a brother Derek who has run away. When Maxine's parents identify a body in londen, and discovered it's Derek's body, Derek is dead. There is more to this summary but I can't say b.c i'll go on and on. It was the most exciting book i have read in a very long book. i couldn't put the book down! it was really a good book and i would really recommend it to at least 11 year old kids or older. I don't really like other geners than Realistic Fiction, so i gave this a shot, and I loved it. RATE THIS AS A FANTASTIC GOOD NOVEL!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars missing, May 13, 2005

By 

charm lindsey "charm" (Camden Arkansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missing (Paperback)

The book I just finished was very good. The main character of the book is Maxine Moody. Maxine Moody is a young girl at the age of 13. She feels that she is really lonely because her brother was taking over everything and now she is sorta happy that she gets some attention because her brother is dead. She is very happy that her brother is dead because she thought she would get more attention but her mom doesn't pay much attention to her because she thinks her son, who's name is Derek, is still with her so she still doesn't pay much attention to her. Her father pays little attention to her. Maxine has been getting these funny phone calls from a person who is acting as her brother. Well atleast that is what she is thinking. So she and her friend goes to see his grave and there is a pay phone about ten stones down. Now she is believing that her brother is really calling her and that is how far I am in the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Missing GT Book Review, January 12, 2009

By 

M. James "digit head" (Dallas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missing (Paperback)

Missing by Catherine Macphail is a suspense novel about a girl, Maxine, who feels left alone in her world. Her brother Derek disappeared one day, and he was found dead a few months later. The father approved that the body was his son's, and that was what it was left to. The body was buried, and everybody just kind of went on with things, except her mom, dad, and a boy named Sweeney who had been bullying Derek before his death. Maxine's parents were always lingering over Derek, Derek, Derek. Her mother was very emotional about it, and her dad tried to accept the death and move on. Maxine was angry that her mom was always talking about him, and never taking the time to ask Maxine how her day was or even just how she was.
Then, it started to become weird, Maxine started to get phone calls from someone who claimed to be Derek. She was always frightened because she did not want her mom to receive the call and become even more worried about his death. Maxine thought that it was either a stupid prank, or Derek had never really died. One time, the caller told Maxine to meet him in the cemetery of his grave, or Derek's grave. Maxine followed the directions at the exact time, but invited one of her close guy friends, Cam, to join her. When she arrived at the cemetery, she found Cam being beaten by Sweeney and laughed at. Maxine approached and told them to back up. She attempted to stand up for herself and Cam, but then Sweeney took her by the hair and threw her to the ground. Derek finally showed up! It wasn't a ghost or a prank, it was her brother. He scared them off just with his presence there, when they thought he was still dead. Everybody thought he was dead. He conversed with Maxine about how it will be for him back home with his parents. She explained everything, and they became a normal family again. Derek owed a lot to Maxine for accepting him back into the household and following his directions to go to the cemetery. I enjoyed this book very much, and I request it to anybody who is anticipating a novel that will make you want to read from cover to cover in no time.