Love Is a Missing Person

by M.E. Kerr

A child of divorced parents, fifteen-year-old Suzy Slade becomes involved in her loved ones' complex affairs of the heart.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen

164 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

M. E. Kerr was born Marijane Meaker in Auburn, New York. Her interest in writing began with her father, who loved to read, and her mother, who loved to tell stories of neighborhood gossip. Unable to find an agent to represent her work, Meaker became her own agent, and wrote articles and books under a series of pseudonyms: Vin Packer, Ann Aldrich, Laura Winston, M.E. Kerr, and Mary James. As M.E. Kerr, Meaker has produced over twenty novels for young adults and won multiple awards, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her lifetime contribution to young adult literature.

Reviews

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I somehow missed this author completely during my childhood, which is crazy considering the amount of books that I read. I can only assume that perhaps my local library didn't carry this author?

Anyway, I was going to read them in publication order, but this one happened to come in first. It was interesting, if mildly uncomfortable, the way only books from our past that deal with race or gender politics can be. I admired it for trying to be open and "cool" about race, because I saw that even though it falls far short of what we would find right today, it was trying. (Kind of like 1950s sci-fi that has a woman scientist....who is always the one getting the coffee, and unfortunately an old maid).

[Megan N · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in love with this book, and author! M.E. Kerr managed to write half of my life out into a book and the weird thing is I sat there reading it and thought about how the main character Suzy Slade always worried about everything, and just how she acted...its practicly like me...with a few differnces of course. Then there is Chicago, Suzy's sister, well here's a few things I loved about her, when she lived with her dad in New York she fell in "love" with a boy and he was an anarchist and she liked James Dean. Obviously her dad wasn't too happy with her falling in love with an anarchist but I laughed so hard because that's happen to people I know.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzy Slade is 16 and her very wealthy parents are divorced. Her father had custody of her older sister Chicago in NYC while she lived with her mom in NJ. Chicago, always a little unusual, becomes more "revolutionary" when her dad begins seeing a young girl (20 - 2 years older than Chicago) and they become serious. Chicago moves to NJ where she meets Roger - the black high school valedictorian and athletic star. Shortly after this, their dad remarries. Suzy and Chicago struggle to become friends and to love each other. The climax is when Chicago and Roger steal a painting from the library where Suzy works and get caught thanks to Suzy. They both jump bail and disappear - they become "missing people".

A typical M.E. Kerr book in that it deals with the very real problems of a teenager in a funny but realistic manner. Like "Dinky Hocker" it involves the struggles between parent and teen when the teen tries to find out who she is and what her place in life is. Good!

[XiaomaraM2020 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could really understand the story and what it was about.