The Missing Girl ****

Mazer, Norma Fox. The Missing Girl. 2008.



This was a disturbing book. The chapters alternate between five sisters and a man who is obsessed with them. The sisters are having lots of problems at home-- their father is out of a job and the mother is making the only income. She is stressed out and they have no money. The family makes the decision to send one of the sisters to an Aunt so she can help out and take the burden off the family. Meanwhile, a pedophile is obsessed with the girls. He looks forward to seeing them every day. His only problem is choosing which of them he wants. They are all enticing to him in one way or another.



The pedophilia angle can be disturbing to some readers so I would urge caution for readers that might be sensitive to this sort of thing. Otherwise, this was a great book and I had a hard time putting it down.

Catalyst ****

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Catalyst. 2002.

This was a great book about a girl whose life seems to be falling apart. Kate lives with her brother Toby and her minister father. She seems to take on a lot of the responsibility around the house. Her father means well but seems to always be busy with things. She is really stressed out about college. She only applied to MIT and is eagerly awaiting their decision.

Teri, an unpopular girl at school, steals Kate's watch. Kate follows her home and discovers that Teri's mom is unable to do much for herself and Teri is the one taking care of things at her house too. Then her house burns down. Her father lets Teri and her little brother move in which really gets Kate's blood boiling. She has to give up her bed and can't sleep for all the snoring.

I won't give anything more away about the plot. This was a great book about a high strung high school student, which is something many readers will relate to.