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The Year Without Michael
Named as one of the 100 best books published for young adults in a 25 year period, The Year Without Michael is the story of a family torn apart when 12 year old Michael disappears one day while going to a friend's house.
Told from the viewpoint of Michael's sixteen year old sister, Jody, the novel explores the emotional agony of a family forced to struggle with unanswerable questions while coping with daily routines and stresses.
Stylistically similar to New York Times best selling author Susan Beth Pfeffer's novel Life As We Knew It, and as emotionally compelling as her most recent novel, Blood Wounds, The Year Without Michael is a classic novel for middle school and high school students and perfect for classroom use.
"A book that offers a sensitive and probing view of a contemporary family in agony. Though it is characterized as contemporary fiction for young adults, The Year Without Michael...should appeal to readers of all ages." New York Times Book Review
The Year Without Michael is a South Carolina Young Adult Book Award winner, as well as an ALA Best Book For Young Adults, a School Library Journal Best Book, and a Booklist Editor's Choice.
Told from the viewpoint of Michael's sixteen year old sister, Jody, the novel explores the emotional agony of a family forced to struggle with unanswerable questions while coping with daily routines and stresses.
Stylistically similar to New York Times best selling author Susan Beth Pfeffer's novel Life As We Knew It, and as emotionally compelling as her most recent novel, Blood Wounds, The Year Without Michael is a classic novel for middle school and high school students and perfect for classroom use.
"A book that offers a sensitive and probing view of a contemporary family in agony. Though it is characterized as contemporary fiction for young adults, The Year Without Michael...should appeal to readers of all ages." New York Times Book Review
The Year Without Michael is a South Carolina Young Adult Book Award winner, as well as an ALA Best Book For Young Adults, a School Library Journal Best Book, and a Booklist Editor's Choice.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 1987
15 people are currently reading
860 people want to read
About the author
Susan Beth Pfeffer
92 books1,931 followersSusan Beth Pfeffer was an American author best known for young adult and science fiction. After writing for 35 years, she received wider notice for her series of post-apocalyptic novels, officially titled "The Life as We Knew It Series", but often called "The Last Survivors" or "Moon Crash" series, some of which appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 31, 2012
This is an incredibly well-written book.
When 13 year old Michael does not come home one night, his family literally falls apart. Pfeffer shows the way stress and anger and anxiety affect this family during this crisis.
The police search. The family makes "Missing" posters and posts them all over town. And each day, they expect Michael to come back or be found. And one day passes and another and still there is no trace of Michael.
At first, the police assume Michael just ran away. But as time passes, the family fears that Michael may have been abducted and murdered.
When 16 year old Jody is talking to her parents about how intensely this cris is affecting 11 year old Kay, her father makes this comment.....
".....what's happening to us wont just go away. We can love each other and communicate and give each other endless hugs and Michael will still be missing and we'll still be in hell.Kay isn't the only one slowly dying around her. We all are." (page 71)
Another memrable scene for me is one night, about six weeks after Michael's disappearance, Jody offers to set the dineer table for her mother. And for the first time, she sets only four place settings--missing the fifth place she had always set for Michael. She bursts into tears and runs to her bedroom to cry " to grieve at the fact that the unimaginable had become the norm." (page 74)
The book is filling with many other excellent and well written scenes. It is not a happy book, but it is VERY well written, and the different reactions of the characters ring true to life. You really feel this could happen.
Due to the emotional intensity, I would recommend for teens at least 12 years of age. but I read this book as a adult, and found it gripping. In less than 200 pages, Pfeffer creates an intense and memrable story.
Very highly recommended for anyone.
Read before I joined GR, so dates are unknown.
When 13 year old Michael does not come home one night, his family literally falls apart. Pfeffer shows the way stress and anger and anxiety affect this family during this crisis.
The police search. The family makes "Missing" posters and posts them all over town. And each day, they expect Michael to come back or be found. And one day passes and another and still there is no trace of Michael.
At first, the police assume Michael just ran away. But as time passes, the family fears that Michael may have been abducted and murdered.
When 16 year old Jody is talking to her parents about how intensely this cris is affecting 11 year old Kay, her father makes this comment.....
".....what's happening to us wont just go away. We can love each other and communicate and give each other endless hugs and Michael will still be missing and we'll still be in hell.Kay isn't the only one slowly dying around her. We all are." (page 71)
Another memrable scene for me is one night, about six weeks after Michael's disappearance, Jody offers to set the dineer table for her mother. And for the first time, she sets only four place settings--missing the fifth place she had always set for Michael. She bursts into tears and runs to her bedroom to cry " to grieve at the fact that the unimaginable had become the norm." (page 74)
The book is filling with many other excellent and well written scenes. It is not a happy book, but it is VERY well written, and the different reactions of the characters ring true to life. You really feel this could happen.
Due to the emotional intensity, I would recommend for teens at least 12 years of age. but I read this book as a adult, and found it gripping. In less than 200 pages, Pfeffer creates an intense and memrable story.
Very highly recommended for anyone.
Read before I joined GR, so dates are unknown.
August 25, 2009
Unbelievable and formulaic. The story was meant to be a character-driven account of the lives of a missing boy's family in the year following his disappearance, but the characters were cardboard cut-outs at best (Jody), totally detestable at worst (the mother), and all-around inconsistent. The majority of the tragedies of the book fell flat because I couldn't bring myself to care for any of them.
The relationship between Kay and her mother was particularly ridiculous. Kay is twelve years old. Mother decides to take out all of her free-floating rage on Kay, whose worst crime - wait for it - is that she's a sort-of prickly pre-teen who doesn't know how to express her feelings about her brother. Mother constantly says that she hates Kay and wishes that Kay had been abducted in Michael's place. Mother starts fights with Kay over nothing and blames Kay for provoking her. And finally, when Kay pawns most of her own belongings and saves up enough money to put an ad in the paper (a tiny little ad asking for Michael to call home because his family misses him), Mother flounces, makes a huge speech about what a detestable human being Kay is, and carts her off to boarding school.
...I remember putting the book down at this point with no intention of picking it back up again, but I trudged through the rest for the sake of completion. It only gets worse - Mother is portrayed as the sympathetic party; Father and Jody agree that the only way to deal with Kay's mood-swings is by making her into the scapegoat; everyone makes nice in the end for no reason, and Kay returns, instead of telling her family to jump off a cliff. Whatever. There was very little the book could have done to salvage my opinion by that point.
Not recommended. Pfeffer's later stuff is (fortunately) leagues better, but The Year Without Michael was painfully bad.
The relationship between Kay and her mother was particularly ridiculous. Kay is twelve years old. Mother decides to take out all of her free-floating rage on Kay, whose worst crime - wait for it - is that she's a sort-of prickly pre-teen who doesn't know how to express her feelings about her brother. Mother constantly says that she hates Kay and wishes that Kay had been abducted in Michael's place. Mother starts fights with Kay over nothing and blames Kay for provoking her. And finally, when Kay pawns most of her own belongings and saves up enough money to put an ad in the paper (a tiny little ad asking for Michael to call home because his family misses him), Mother flounces, makes a huge speech about what a detestable human being Kay is, and carts her off to boarding school.
...I remember putting the book down at this point with no intention of picking it back up again, but I trudged through the rest for the sake of completion. It only gets worse - Mother is portrayed as the sympathetic party; Father and Jody agree that the only way to deal with Kay's mood-swings is by making her into the scapegoat; everyone makes nice in the end for no reason, and Kay returns, instead of telling her family to jump off a cliff. Whatever. There was very little the book could have done to salvage my opinion by that point.
Not recommended. Pfeffer's later stuff is (fortunately) leagues better, but The Year Without Michael was painfully bad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2011
This is a really good book, but heart wrenching. I hated the ending or would have given it a 5 instead of a 4. I know this ending is the truth of the way it usually in real life turns out, but gave me such depression when the book was over.
June 19, 2012
I loved this book and hated this book. Pfeffer does a good job at looking at the dysfunction of a family that loses a young family member very unexpectedly. She addresses the highs and lows of a family that isn't sure that they will get Michael back and the extremes the family goes to to feel okay again. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but in reflection, I much prefer it to any other outcome.
March 31, 2008
Very disturbing but convincingly done.
March 5, 2015
Grade: D
On his way to play softball with a friend, 14 year old Michael tells his sister, Jody, goodbye and that he'll be home by dinner. Then he vanishes into thin air, throwing the already-dysfunctional family into chaos.
I first read THE YEAR WITHOUT MICHAEL as a teen in the 1970s and liked it a lot, so I thought I'd give it a reread.
First the Good: Jody was a likable main character, she had both positive and negative qualities.
The okay: The plot, except for the ending, was compelling.
The bad: The writing, especially the dialogue, was all tell and no show. This is one of Susan Beth Pfeffer early novels, written in the 70s so I expected a different style of writing, I hadn't imagined just how unsophisticated it would be. example: "I'm scared," Jody's mother said. "It scares me, Tom." People don't talk the way the dialogue is written.
The Worst: I understand that the ending is something that frequently happens, but I wanted more closure for the family.
Themes: Missing children, family, friendship, siblings
I do think people who aren't too particular about the quality of writing might enjoy THE YEAR WITHOUT MICHAEL, the storyline and premier are interesting.
On his way to play softball with a friend, 14 year old Michael tells his sister, Jody, goodbye and that he'll be home by dinner. Then he vanishes into thin air, throwing the already-dysfunctional family into chaos.
I first read THE YEAR WITHOUT MICHAEL as a teen in the 1970s and liked it a lot, so I thought I'd give it a reread.
First the Good: Jody was a likable main character, she had both positive and negative qualities.
The okay: The plot, except for the ending, was compelling.
The bad: The writing, especially the dialogue, was all tell and no show. This is one of Susan Beth Pfeffer early novels, written in the 70s so I expected a different style of writing, I hadn't imagined just how unsophisticated it would be. example: "I'm scared," Jody's mother said. "It scares me, Tom." People don't talk the way the dialogue is written.
The Worst: I understand that the ending is something that frequently happens, but I wanted more closure for the family.
Themes: Missing children, family, friendship, siblings
I do think people who aren't too particular about the quality of writing might enjoy THE YEAR WITHOUT MICHAEL, the storyline and premier are interesting.
March 31, 2008
I read this after hearing Susan Beth Pfeffer speak at a New York Library Association School Library Media Specialist conference. A teenage girl and her family try to cope with the disappearance of her little brother. Excellent realistic fiction!
Read
March 27, 2012This book totally disturbed me when I was a kid...
June 5, 2007
Depressing but good. Read it as a kid.
May 14, 2019
I feel like there is a need for a sequel :)
July 8, 2025
When I was 15, two teen girls disappeared in my hometown. They were sisters. For months, no one knew what happened. The police thought they were runaways.
As I read this book, I couldn't help but think of those girls. This was probably the most honest vision of what a family experiences when a child disappears. This book is heartbreaking in its examination of how indeterminate loss shapes those left behind. Is it better to hope that Michael is a runaway, gone on his own? If so, what will he have done to survive? Has he survived as a runaway? Is it better to hope that he was taken, that he died quickly? This book has questions but no answers. All it has is what's left behind. And it's amazing.
The two girls from my town were killed by a serial killer. He's currently serving consecutive sentences without parole.
As I read this book, I couldn't help but think of those girls. This was probably the most honest vision of what a family experiences when a child disappears. This book is heartbreaking in its examination of how indeterminate loss shapes those left behind. Is it better to hope that Michael is a runaway, gone on his own? If so, what will he have done to survive? Has he survived as a runaway? Is it better to hope that he was taken, that he died quickly? This book has questions but no answers. All it has is what's left behind. And it's amazing.
The two girls from my town were killed by a serial killer. He's currently serving consecutive sentences without parole.
December 26, 2010
Too depressing for me. It's very well written and the characters are completely real. As a mother it's just too scary to read about a child disappearing and never being found.
March 14, 2012
Once again, the author does a great job of helping us to see and ponder how we might react in a similar situation. Sad, but hopeful story.
April 10, 2011
One of the saddest books I've ever read.
Read
December 30, 2020Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and links and everything.
Honestly this wasn’t awful? Obviously it’s dated, and I don’t mean that just about references or technology. YA writing has changed so much since this time period. Most contemporary books from this time period that I’ve read are under 200 pages. Isn’t that weird to think about? The last modern contemporary YA book I read was 430 pages.
So because of its length and the style of many, many books at the time, it is pretty sparse, but it does manage to pack a pretty good emotional punch. I think at times the writing style works well to show how raw the characters feel.
Honestly this wasn’t awful? Obviously it’s dated, and I don’t mean that just about references or technology. YA writing has changed so much since this time period. Most contemporary books from this time period that I’ve read are under 200 pages. Isn’t that weird to think about? The last modern contemporary YA book I read was 430 pages.
So because of its length and the style of many, many books at the time, it is pretty sparse, but it does manage to pack a pretty good emotional punch. I think at times the writing style works well to show how raw the characters feel.
March 3, 2021
The Year Without Michael was an amazing book. You could feel the heartache the family went through. The characters were very relatable. The story was well written. An excellent read! A story of loss and heartache, of a family torn apart by tragedy. The story of how they came to care for one another again. Such a wonderful story.
August 15, 2019
I wish I could give this book 4 and 1/2 stars. I loved the story. I just wish I knew what happened to Michael. I know that is not what the story was about but I did feel like that small piece was missing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2018
i read this when i was a young child as i saw it on my mom's bookshelf, i really don't remember much about the details of it at this point but i cried so much over this book back then.
January 27, 2021
Well written psychological exploration meets pitfalls is stranger danger moral panics
July 19, 2025
Such a sad story, warning, there is no happy ending, in fact there is no end. The mother was dreadfully mean.
August 21, 2025
this was my summer purse book i got from a free library. i thought it was just a corny 80s mystery, but yikes it was intense! just unbearable for someone to go missing, how does anyone survive it.
August 31, 2009
Brooke Craig
Ms. Wheeler
Honors English III
August 31, 2009
The Year Without Michael Book Review
The Year Without Michael
The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a novel about a family’s struggle to come together after their son, brother, and loved one, thirteen year old Michael, went missing. Protagonist, Jody, tries hard to keep her family together through this tragedy. Pfeffer wrote this novel for those ages twelve and up. Although this book won Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year, one should not read this book because there is not a dramatic climax, and it creates too much emotional distress for the reader.
The Year Without Michael drags on without any major action. The story is mainly dialogue between Jody and her family and friends. The characters do little other than ask questions to find Michael: “Kay said, “Do you think Michael is home yet?” “If he isn’t, I’m sure he’ll be home real soon,” Jody replied” (Pfeffer 19). This conversation continues, but no action to find thirteen year old Michael is described. There are no detailed descriptions of police searches or interviews of suspects where drama would be added.
Even though there was no action or physical drama, it is a very emotionally illustrated book. The book follows the family as they each react differently to Michael’s disappearance. As the months pass on Michael’s father begins drinking more and breaks down blaming the police:
“They killed him,” Jody’s father said. “The police killed him.”… “All those hours they wasted claiming we shouldn’t be worrying,” Her father replied. “All those precious hours when Michael was missing and Officer Dino was ranting about runaways. If we had those hours back with the full police force out there searching for him then Michael would be home today.” (132)
Even though Michael’s fate is unknown, his father blames the situation on others. Michael’s mother also emotionally breaks down: “‘Kay isn’t interested in helping,” her mother said. “Don’t you think I hear her prayers every night, ‘Oh, God, let Michael be dead. Oh God, let them find his body’? Sometimes I think Kay killed him”’ (138). Like Michael’s father, his mother breaks down and even blames her youngest daughter. The emotional dialogue that comes out is distressful to the reader.
Susan Beth Pfeffer created the novel so that teenagers could understand the emotional distress that occurs in a family when a child goes missing. There have been many books written for adults on this topic; therefore, Pfeffer wrote a book that could help teenagers going through similar situations. The book does a good job in showing how tragedy can tear apart a family and individuals.
One would think the story of a missing boy would be exciting or dramatic, but Pfeffer writes this story in a very lackluster way. While Pfeffer illustrates how a tragedy can tear apart a family the book drags on with no action making the reader not want to continue. Because the emotional scenes in the book are so spread out, one finds themselves uninterested in the character’s outcomes. Pfeffer recommended this book for ages twelve and up; however one should not read The Year Without Michael unless they have been through a similar situation.
Ms. Wheeler
Honors English III
August 31, 2009
The Year Without Michael Book Review
The Year Without Michael
The Year Without Michael by Susan Beth Pfeffer is a novel about a family’s struggle to come together after their son, brother, and loved one, thirteen year old Michael, went missing. Protagonist, Jody, tries hard to keep her family together through this tragedy. Pfeffer wrote this novel for those ages twelve and up. Although this book won Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year, one should not read this book because there is not a dramatic climax, and it creates too much emotional distress for the reader.
The Year Without Michael drags on without any major action. The story is mainly dialogue between Jody and her family and friends. The characters do little other than ask questions to find Michael: “Kay said, “Do you think Michael is home yet?” “If he isn’t, I’m sure he’ll be home real soon,” Jody replied” (Pfeffer 19). This conversation continues, but no action to find thirteen year old Michael is described. There are no detailed descriptions of police searches or interviews of suspects where drama would be added.
Even though there was no action or physical drama, it is a very emotionally illustrated book. The book follows the family as they each react differently to Michael’s disappearance. As the months pass on Michael’s father begins drinking more and breaks down blaming the police:
“They killed him,” Jody’s father said. “The police killed him.”… “All those hours they wasted claiming we shouldn’t be worrying,” Her father replied. “All those precious hours when Michael was missing and Officer Dino was ranting about runaways. If we had those hours back with the full police force out there searching for him then Michael would be home today.” (132)
Even though Michael’s fate is unknown, his father blames the situation on others. Michael’s mother also emotionally breaks down: “‘Kay isn’t interested in helping,” her mother said. “Don’t you think I hear her prayers every night, ‘Oh, God, let Michael be dead. Oh God, let them find his body’? Sometimes I think Kay killed him”’ (138). Like Michael’s father, his mother breaks down and even blames her youngest daughter. The emotional dialogue that comes out is distressful to the reader.
Susan Beth Pfeffer created the novel so that teenagers could understand the emotional distress that occurs in a family when a child goes missing. There have been many books written for adults on this topic; therefore, Pfeffer wrote a book that could help teenagers going through similar situations. The book does a good job in showing how tragedy can tear apart a family and individuals.
One would think the story of a missing boy would be exciting or dramatic, but Pfeffer writes this story in a very lackluster way. While Pfeffer illustrates how a tragedy can tear apart a family the book drags on with no action making the reader not want to continue. Because the emotional scenes in the book are so spread out, one finds themselves uninterested in the character’s outcomes. Pfeffer recommended this book for ages twelve and up; however one should not read The Year Without Michael unless they have been through a similar situation.
February 24, 2017
Susan Beth Pfeffer has a knack for taking someone's world and turning it upside down. In this novel, something happens that, as an expectant parent, gives me nightmares. This book is gripping, but definitely depressing. But, when I say gripping, I mean I read the whole book in one day. I would recommend this book to young adults who want to start becoming readers, but need to find the right book to get them hooked on reading.
Warnings:
Drugs: none
Sex: none
R&R: a little.
Language: no
Violence: a little.
Warnings:
Drugs: none
Sex: none
R&R: a little.
Language: no
Violence: a little.
August 14, 2021
The Year Without Michael is the heartbreaking story of a family's struggle to accept their new lives in the year after a child goes missing. As expected, there are a lot of heavy emotions involved in their attempt to see through a tragedy together, and one which they may or may not ever get the answers to. For such a quick read, I was surprised at the amount of story to be told. It's not extravagant or detailed by any degree, it jumps around quite a bit, but it's a very easy read.
As I grew to learn more about the characters, some seemed very over the top for drama's sake and the situations quite unlikely. I feel like they would succeed in remaining a functional family through a massive hardship if they were nicer to each other and not so quick to make comments that are completely out of left field and entirely unnecessary. These aren't realistic arguments, they're cruelty where it doesn't make any sense to exist in a narrative. There can be quiet tension without explosions to show off the dysfunction. Unfortunately, character interactions fail in subtlety.
Kay, a twelve year old girl, was equal parts given the lines of an ignorant child while also being as well-spoken as the adults. Linda was completely off her rocker and her behaviour wasn't at all warranted. The characters were pretty much the same except for how individually drastic they each were for the sake of being incredibly difficult to compromise with. Characters have such a hard time expressing themselves that they each frequently "declare" statements, a recurring word in the description of their dialogue through the entirety of the book.
Though highly unlikely, the story is fine, and it's a quick read which, other than a welcome spark of humour in the middle, leaves you with the sense of dread that you're meant to feel when getting involved in a story about this subject. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours which was pretty much what I was looking for to pick it up on a whim just based on its short length. I enjoyed the overall plot points of this one, if the characterization was severely lacking. Overall, not too bad.
As I grew to learn more about the characters, some seemed very over the top for drama's sake and the situations quite unlikely. I feel like they would succeed in remaining a functional family through a massive hardship if they were nicer to each other and not so quick to make comments that are completely out of left field and entirely unnecessary. These aren't realistic arguments, they're cruelty where it doesn't make any sense to exist in a narrative. There can be quiet tension without explosions to show off the dysfunction. Unfortunately, character interactions fail in subtlety.
Kay, a twelve year old girl, was equal parts given the lines of an ignorant child while also being as well-spoken as the adults. Linda was completely off her rocker and her behaviour wasn't at all warranted. The characters were pretty much the same except for how individually drastic they each were for the sake of being incredibly difficult to compromise with. Characters have such a hard time expressing themselves that they each frequently "declare" statements, a recurring word in the description of their dialogue through the entirety of the book.
Though highly unlikely, the story is fine, and it's a quick read which, other than a welcome spark of humour in the middle, leaves you with the sense of dread that you're meant to feel when getting involved in a story about this subject. It kept me entertained for a couple of hours which was pretty much what I was looking for to pick it up on a whim just based on its short length. I enjoyed the overall plot points of this one, if the characterization was severely lacking. Overall, not too bad.
July 25, 2013
I read this book when I was quite a bit younger (I estimate maybe 16 years ago?) and I don't remember it in vivid detail, but I do know that it has haunted me since I first picked it up.
Jody's younger brother disappears, and the book dissolves into that peculiar grief that only families of missing children / adults can know or experience. Her family is fractured and Jody is determined to find her brother.
In the end,
All in all, I really love this book and think it's an important read.
Jody's younger brother disappears, and the book dissolves into that peculiar grief that only families of missing children / adults can know or experience. Her family is fractured and Jody is determined to find her brother.
In the end,
All in all, I really love this book and think it's an important read.
March 19, 2009
This book is one of my FAVORITE !
i love it so much! i hug it & kiss it goodnight. :)
This is a book i would remeber for the rest of my entire life. Okay so let me start of by saying that this book is about this family . there's two girls & one little boy hes only 11 years old i believe. So here's the deal the little boy just disapeers, like out of nowhere. NOWHERE. & so his parents are planning on sliping up & he only has his 2 sister's & his mom but then his dad appears. While i read this book i picture everything like it would be happening to someone i know or someone who am close too. i would deff. react the same way his parents acted when they found out that he was missing.
This book has a deep information in it.
am half way done.
But still need to read more. am like stuck into it
i cant stop reading it :)
ill get back at this asap. byee
am going back to my reading.
January 11, 2017
This book was soooo sad but soooo good. It left me sympathizing with the families that had people gone missing and never found. It leaves you wondering what happened to Michael. I imagine someone killed him but I don't think he ran away. The one thing I didn't like was the character of Officer Dino. Sure,people want to make you think positive about a situation but he was too positive policemen are supposed to tell you the truth not sugar coat everything plus he didn't seem like a realistic police officer and was he stubborn about Michael running away. Other than that,I admit I was sad when the book was over. I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened to Michael and if he ever comes back to them and if the family mends their troubles. I totally recommend it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2009
I read this book in about 1989 - it was in my teacher's personal library.
There are no easy answers in this book. It is a portrait of a family changed by the disappearance of one of its members.
What I didn't love at the time was how there was no answer/easy solution - but I was 13 when I read it. I didn't know then was that this is what's saddest about these types of cases. More often than not, the families of missing children are left to wonder and wait.
There are no easy answers in this book. It is a portrait of a family changed by the disappearance of one of its members.
What I didn't love at the time was how there was no answer/easy solution - but I was 13 when I read it. I didn't know then was that this is what's saddest about these types of cases. More often than not, the families of missing children are left to wonder and wait.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2019
Who knew she was famous long before 2006? Stumbled across this by chance and was amazed to find an exceedingly well written, very serious and mature piece of work (just dated enough to make an interesting window it the past). The ending might be controversial (), but I thought it fit.
October 26, 2012
"The year without Michael" was an OK book for me. The author did a very good job of depicting every emotion from each member of the family, so that I could almost feel exactly what they were going through. I also liked seeing how Jody's attitude without Michael affected every area of her life, her school work, her relationship with her family and friends, and mostly her overall outlook on life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews