Vanished (Point) [Paperback]

Celia Rees (Author)

Book Description

Series: Point | Publication Date: April 17, 2003

A tale to make your blood run cold...It all started as stories-playground tales handed down for generations. Stories of plague graves, vanished children and hidden steps leading to a festering underworld. A world so real you could almost smell it...But when another child goes missing, Fraser wonders if there's some truth in the tales. The dank tunnels running under the city are real enough. Who knows what horrors their depths contain? only Billy. He knows about a decaying kingdom far more terrifying thananyone could imagine...

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Shirley Barthelmie's pleasant, even tones provide a strong narration for this chilling story of urban legends that become reality. She provides distinct voices for each of the three students, Cassie, Fraser, and Jake, who investigate the cases of children who disappear. Barthelmie maintains the rising tension of the story, despite the challenges of long descriptive passages and loose ends in the plot. An occasional slip into overly dramatic reading can be forgiven, given the creepy subterranean caverns the teens must traverse in order to rescue Jake's sister from ravenous troglodyte inhabitants. The menacing music that begins each CD sets the mood of the recording well. C.A. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Hippo/Scholastic (April 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439982324
• ISBN-13: 978-0439982320
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,159,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Celia Rees was born in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. She studied History and Politics at Warwick University and then went on to teach English in city comprehensive schools for seventeen years. She now divides her time between writing, talking to readers in schools and libraries, and teaching creative writing.

She has written many books for older children and teenagers, and has become a leading writer for Young Adults with an international reputation. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and she has been short listed for the Guardian, Whitbread and W.H. Smith Children's Book Awards, as well as numerous regional awards in the UK and America. Witch Child won the prestigious Prix Sorcières in France in 2003, and the Di Cento Prize in Italy, 2001. Her latest book, The Fool's Girl, publishes in the U.S. in July, 2010

Celia lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, with her husband, Terry. Her daughter, Catrin, now lives and works in London.

To learn more about Celia and her books, visit her website at: www.celiarees.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real book right out of the Frankenstein and Dracula bookshelf, July 14, 2009

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vanished (Point) (Paperback)

New kid in school, Alistair Fraser, has a great idea for reviving circulation of the student newspaper, include stories of the bizarre and unexplained. They try it, and find that it works so much better than the newspaper staff could have ever hoped for. But, there's something strange going on - the stories that the other students start sending in all point towards a frightening truth. Someone or something is prowling city - children have been disappearing for over one hundred years, and they are disappearing again. When newspaper photographer Jake Saunders' sister disappears it becomes a race against time if they are to bring her back alive!

I must say that this is a fantastic book. The author did a great job of starting out with a story about teens and school, and slowly turning it into a story of blackest terror. By the end, you are on the edge of your seat, afraid to put the book down...afraid to turn out the lights.

I think that this is a great work of horror, and I am very glad that I read it. I found it frightening, and yet not bloody, a real book right out of the Frankenstein and Dracula bookshelf. I highly recommend this book to everyone who likes horror.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, Excellent Audio Rendition, December 11, 2006

By 

Jesse Penitent "zekaille" (Somewhere, Out There) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Vanished: Library Edition (Audio CD)

Don't have time to read your horror? Let Shirley Barthelmie read it to you! In this five CD set lies a terrible secret, a blood chilling horror that only begins with every parent's nightmare...and THEN it gets scary.

Alistair Fraser is new at high school, suffering emotional anguish caused by a family tragedy. Jake Saunders is the school geek, a talented photographer, spelunker and doting brother of little sister Amy. Both boys are enamored of Cassie, editor of the school newspaper, setting the stage for some jealousy and misdirection. Into the mix comes the mysterious, homeless Billy who may know more about the latest bouts of child disappearances than he lets on.

And then Amy disappears....

I LOVED this story and the way it was told. Barthelmie has at least six main characters for whom she must produce distinct voices--and she does. I could always tell who was speaking even when no tags of "he said" and "she said" were present.

As for the characters...there may not be the depth demanded for longer and more complicated fictions, but there is depth enough that we sympathize with Fraser's tragic history, Jake's love for his younger sister, Cassie's single-minded determination to make her newspaper the best there is and even with the strange and uncanny Billy's secret sorrows.

There are a few loose ends that are never tied up (at least I don't recall them being tied up...what exactly happened to Cassie in the closet...and where are those seven steps the kids talk about? For that matter, who are the children Cassie and Jake see with Billy?) Still, these are minor points in a supremely spooky and satisfying tale.

11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story at any age!, March 17, 2005

By 

Dawn Marakby (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vanished (Point) (Paperback)

I bought a copy of this book on my way through London's airport, thinking it looked interesting. It was more than a year ago and I just picked the book up yesterday to finally read it. All I can say is, "What took me so long?" This book has a wonderful plot, well developed characters, and is very S-P-O-O-K-Y without all the gore of so many scary novels! The atmosphere and plot are rich with visual imagery! I haven't read anything by Celia Rees before, but after this, I intend to order several of her other novels. Buy the Book! You'll love it!