A Friend at Midnight

by Caroline B. Cooney

Lily has settled into life in Connecticut after her parent's divorce but it's been harder on her eight-year-old brother Michael. After their mother remarries, her brother chooses to go live with his father in Washington, D.C., until the day he calls home from the Baltimore-Washington Airport where his father has abandoned him.

Lily is home babysitting her baby stepbrother when she answers the phone. She has no idea the extent to which her faith in God will be tested. There is no choice for Lily. She will rescue Michael, but will she be able to rescue herself from the bitterness and anger she feels?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Teen, Christian

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2006

About the author

Caroline Cooney knew in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer when "the best teacher I ever had in my life" made writing her main focus. "He used to rip off covers from The New Yorker and pass them around and make us write a short story on whichever cover we got. I started writing then and never stopped!"
When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people -- with remarkable results. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. "In a suspense novel, you can count on action."
To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. She often organizes what she calls a "plotting game," in which students work together to create plots for stories. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams!
- Scholastic.com

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Blended families, a deadbeat dad, religion, sibling rivalry, abandonment. These are all issues that Caroline B. Cooney tackles, quite deftly, in A FRIEND AT MIDNIGHT.

When eight-year-old Michael decides to go live with his father, it's a strain on the entire family. His mother pretends as if it's not happening. His stepfather, Kells, attempts to placate his wife. His oldest sister, Reb, doesn't have a lot of time to deal with it, as she's preparing to leave for college. His baby half-brother, Nathaniel, doesn't understand what it means until after the fact. And his fifteen-year-old sister, Lily, knows that it's destined to end badly.

And badly it does end, when dear old dad drops Michael off, alone, without any money, luggage, or a plane ticket, at the airport to go back to his mother. In his father's words: "You're not the son I had in mind." What happens next involves a fraudulently-obtained credit card, a teenager and a toddler on an airplane, a brush with airport security, and a quick trip back home -- all before Mom and Kells arrive back home after dropping Reb off at college.

The next year is filled with changes, for everyone, but especially for Michael and Lily. Younger brother has promised older sister to absolute secrecy, and Lily's finding it harder and harder to keep the matter quiet. No one else knows how horrible their father is; no one knows the terrible thing he did to his youngest child. But Michael refuses to tell the truth; in fact, Michael refuses to hold a grudge against the fathers he loves so much, even though everyone sees that Michael is not the same since he's returned home.

When things come to a boiling point, it will be up to Michael to let the truth be known. It will also be up to the entire family to deal with the resulting fall-out, and with learning what it means to forgive -- and, even more, what it means to really be "a friend at midnight."

Ms. Cooney has written another emotional winner that will have you glued to the pages until the end. This is a sad, heartbreaking tale that still manages to be uplifting, and everyone will find something in it that they can relate to.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

15-year-old Lily gets a phone call one night from her brother Michael. Their father dropped Michael off at the airport, after indicating that he is not the son he wanted; Michael is left alone with no luggage, no money, and no ticket. As their mother and stepfather are out of town, Lily makes the ultimate decision - to board a plane with their infant half-brother and meet Michael at the airport.

Michael makes Lily promise that she won't tell anyone...and Lily finds herself losing faith in God.

There was a bit of a cheese factor in this book...felt a little too preachy or something for me.

[Tressa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what Caroline B. Cooney's intentions were with A Friend at Midnight. The story seemed to be all over the place. I kept expecting something to happen, but nothing really did.

I think the story could have been better and have a clearer focus. The story felt very passive. I also thought that the characters didn't have depth. I don't think the characters actually grew over the course of the story.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caroline Cooney really knows how to make her characters live. I know these people. The book made me think about some things I thought I already knew. Am I a friend at midnight? Or am I just knocking at the door waiting for the Lord to rescue me?

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers group. The beginning is very compelling (an 8 year old boy is abandoned by his father in an airport), but it really doesn't keep rolling from there. The remainder of the book explores forgiveness and religious doubt. Fans of Caroline Cooney's work will want to read this book, but it is far from her best.

[Dani O · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really like ths book. Very slow and boring. I am dissapointed with Caroline B. Cooney. :(

[Arielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly wouldn't recommend this book this book because it was confusing and it didn't really interest me.

[xenya · Rating 3 out of 5]

i picked up this book because it had stars on the spine and i didn't have any expectations for it. that helped me to enjoy it, in the end. this was very fast paced, which helped because i wasn't bored to death (or putting the book down). this book didn't give me any profound wisdom about love or family or god or forgiveness, but it was still an enjoyable read. the best part of the book, imo, was when lily realized that maybe the person she really couldn't forgive was michael, because he had forgiven their father, and would continue to do so . but i felt that it wasn't dwelled upon as much as i would have liked, so.

also, i had trouble liking lily. she was mean and moody most of the time - not that she's not justified, but it got tiring after a while. i think my favorite character was trey because i felt bad for him getting yelled at by lily all the time.

i think my biggest issue with this book is the way that lily & amanda were praying - the way it was written made it seem like it was trying to be Cool and Relatable to kids out there but it just didn't quite feel realistic. idk. it bugged me a bit. but overall i enjoyed this.

[Melanie Wissel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 stars YA

As always I am drawn into Caroline B Cooney’s book, even though I find the father on the unbelievable side, a black and white contrast to the stepfather. There other things that are unrealistic as well as a little less reverence toward faith/deity than I would wish . However, once I suspended belief, I truly enjoyed delving into the idea of forgiveness not earned and whether God would ever send “the visitor at midnight”. Who wouldn’t grow to love kindhearted, stable, wise Kell and persistent, over observant Trey! I love when characters grow and true understanding sinks in. So many family members learn to sacrifice to protect others making the ending meaningful, even impactful. Loved the underlying themes and the deftness of revealing how it all works.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: After Lily saves her little brother. Michael, from an unfortunate incident involving their father, Lily feels like she can never forgive him again. Lily begins to question her faith in God. Will Lily ever forgive her father again?

My thoughts: I absolutely could not take Lily. I could have solved her problems earlier in the novel! What disturbs me the most was Lily's lack of faith in God. She kept accusing Him of not being there when He was there the whole time. Lily kept saying that God wasn't listening and she demanded Him to strike down her father and to make him pay. It doesn't work like that! I felt like the entire novel all Lily did was whine. I did not like how there was not much dialogue and too much description.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not recall reading such a terrifying book beginning! Eight year old Michael was dropped off at the airport by his father, with no ticket, money, food or any arrangements! Michael was afraid to seek help help with the police and adults since he knew that what his father did would land his father in big trouble. Even worse was what his father had told him, that Michael was not the son he wanted. Horrible!
Also, we all need a friend at midnight.

[Julie sims and books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable. Honorable. I will cherish this book.

[Becky S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well it was a long rant in a sappy story about a girl really mad at her father.

[Shelby]

Summary Tease
Have you ever been so blinded by love you don’t realize the bad things about someone? That’s how 8 year old Michael feels about his father. He adores his father he would do anything to live with his father, he finally gets to. What does his father do? Less than a month later… he drives Michael to the airport and says get out of the car... “You aren’t the son I want” Michael gets out and goes into the airport as his father drives away leaving him with no money and no plane ticket… Nothing. He proceeds to call his sister Lilly. She’s left home alone babysitting her 3 year old brother while her parents are taking her sister to college. Lily doesn’t know what to do so she decides to fly to Michael and pick him up and bring him home… but Michael makes her promise not to tell anyone. Lily now has the strongest hatred for her father, and cant tell anyone her dirty little secret
Who might be interested in this book? Why?

I think anyone, who is in the teenage to young adult range. I think that more so girls will like this book more than boys because, this books a sad story and sort of emotional at times. I don’t think boys would enjoy that as much so as girls would or young adults.
Overall Satisfaction
Explain…….
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because overall it’s a pretty good book. It was a rather quick read also. The book itself was pretty entertaining I never really got bored of it or tired of it I read it pretty fast.
Literary Skills: (at least 3 of our keywords)

Simile –“she tilted her body like a model in a magazine displaying casual wear” Metaphor- “she was being a ten year old saying “nu-uhh” when she’s actually 23.”
Imagery- “‘we were camping underneath the magnificent stars it was so magical that was the moment I knew I loved him mom”

[bookgirl13 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the book "A Friend at Midnight" by Caroline B. Cooney. I really like this book because it was a realistic story on how some people can be cold-hearted and growing up can be tough. The story is in third person that is told mainly about a girl named Lily, and her bother Michael. Lily is a middle child, she has an older sister named Rebecca, or Reb, her younger brother Michael, and her baby stepbrother Nathaniel, or Nate for short. Lily's parents had got a divorce, so Lily's mom married a new husband named Kells, which also resulted having baby Nate. But then Michael decides he wants to live with his dad, but soon ends up back at home. The reason? Only Lily knows the truth, and she made a promise to keep it hidden from everyone in her family. Now they have to deal with keeping Michael's secret, planning Reb's wedding, managing Nathaniel, and talking to her friend Amanda and maybe Trey too. When reading the book, it displays how cruel some people are in this world, how they can be so heartless and abuse someone's life and crush everything they love. It got a little confusing in the beginning for me to identify the characters, but I still really enjoyed reading this story.

[Caitlyn Su · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend at Midnight is written by Caroline B. Cooney. It is about a fifteen-year-old girl Lily who got a phone call from her brother Michael. Who’s eight-years-old and abandoned by their father at the airport with absolutely nothing. Therefore, Lily had to board a plane with their infant half-brother and meet Michael at the airport. Through out this book it also explores forgiveness and religious doubt. The book is written in a third person perspective which narrates you through the story. Most of the characters are a bit undeveloped and they sounded whinny which makes the book very annoying. But the author also managed to send the key information to the readers. Which is to show the cruelty, cold heartedness, struggles and forgiveness. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Because the plot moved really slowly, it didn’t capture my interest. But I would still recommend this book to Caroline Cooney lovers, anyone who is religious and generally to anyone who are realistic fiction book fans. My rate for this book would be a 3/5 because even though the book was under my expectation. The book is still worth reading because every book is unique in its own way.

[Emily Kehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book I read was A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney. It is fiction. This book is about a girl named Lily trying to get used to life after her parent’s divorce. Her little brother Michael has decided that he wants to go live with his dad, but soon Lily gets a call from Michael at the airport saying that his dad has dropped him off and left him there saying he wasn’t the son he had in mind. Lily has to find a way to get herself and her little step-brother to the airport to pick him up and bring him home before her mom and step-dad get home. Michael does not want to tell them about what happened at the airport, and neither does Lily. They both realize that if people found out, they would think there was something wrong with Michael that his own dad would abandon him. The theme of the book is forgiveness. Lily had to keep all the hurt and anger toward her dad to herself and was having a hard time forgiving him. I really like they way the author told the story from Lily’s point of view, that way you could understand how Lily was feeling.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fifteen-year-old Lily has to find a way to get her eight-year-old brother Michael back home without the assistance of her mother and stepfather who are off admitting her older sister into college. Her father had, without any advance notice to Michael or his mother, dropped Michael off at the Baltimore airport, told him that he was not the son he expected, and left him there alone, without a ticket or any money. (About two weeks before this occurrance, Michael decided he wanted to live with his father, but through no fault of his own, his father decided he was not acceptable so he abandonned him at the airport). Michael called Lily and told her what happened and asked her to come get him. She was babysitting her half-brother Nathaniel who was less than two-years-old. The only thing she could figure to do was to use a credit card her sister had received and fly herself and Nathaniel to Baltimore and bring Michael back to New York. Michael begged her to keep what happened a secret, which she did.

[Jill Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily is watching her baby brother when she gets a call from her other brother, Michael. Their father just dropped eight-year-old Michael off at the airport in Baltimore without money or a plane ticket. Michael begs Lily to help him get home and to keep what Dad did a secret. Lily risks everything to rescue her brother. She can’t believe that her dad would abandon his son in such a way. And after everything that Dad said and did to Michael, how can Michael still love him?

This book was excellent. Cooney does a masterful job of getting into three sibling’s very different views of their parent’s divorce. I was drawn into the mystery of what was going on, and then to the characters as they struggled through life and their relationship with their father. I loved how Cooney ended it all. Touching and through-provoking. Highly recommended.

[Karen Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily's family is like many these days. Her parents are divorced and her mother has remarried, and Lily has a toddler half brother along with her 8-year-old brother Michael and older sister Rebecca. Lily does what most kids do -- try to deal with the family, go to school and church and hope to figure it out eventually. Lily questions everything around her, especially after Michael goes off to live with their father in Maryland ... and not long after calls her to tell her he's been dumped at the Baltimore airport, alone and without money or belongings of any kind. She moves heaven and earth to get to him and bring him home, only to have him make her promise not to tell... the one thing sacred to any teen. Family relationships over time, Lily's faith and her angry willingness to question that faith are key in this story.

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book is a good example of how what parents do does affect their children. Lily, the main charactor, has a little brother named Michael who moves out of his mother's house to go and live with his dad. On the way to his dad's house, his dad leaves him at the airport with no ticket and no money, not even his backpack full of belongings. The only this he says to his eight-year-old son is: "You're not the son I had in mind." Michael is heartbroken. Even after his sister rescues him from the airport and he forgives his dad, he can't help blaming himself for his father not wanting him. Lily on the other hand, can't forgive him. She thinks she never will. Will she forgive him? Will she discover what it really means to be a "friend at midnight"?

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really good. It's also very sad because of how the dad acts towards his kids, especially Micheal. The dad is only nice towards his eldest daughter, Rebecca, and his soon to be son-in-law. I am not very fond on Rebecca, she brings a lot of drama whenever she comes home from college. she complains about many things and blames Lily, her sister, to what happened to Michael because no one know the true story of what made Michael act older for his age and becoming silent. Only Lily knows what happened and she promised Michael to not tell anyone. Rebecca makes her mother angry and she does not like her step-father and she is very rude to him. She gets very annoyed when he interrupts her when she is have a temper tantrum. Overall this book is very good and it is a bit sad.

[bjneary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilly, 15, now lives in a blended family. Her parents are divorced. She and her siblings live with their mom, new stepfathers and new baby brother. Lilly is adjusting to her new life, but her 8 year old brother, Michael, is struggling and goes to live with their father. After 2 short weeks, Michael is back and only Lilly knows the reason and is sworn to secrecy. Lilly's faith is tested, her family is tested, and Lilly carries the weight of the world on her shoulders. Lilly has very strong shoulders! I could not put this book down.

[Maria Hooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A student loaned me this novel, and it was an interesting book. So why did I give it three stars instead of a higher rating? For me, as a parent, I just couldn't get past the father's actions. I was right there with the narrator who just couldn't let it go because Michael didn't deserve that. In short, no child ever could deserve that.

Still, aside from that, it is a good book, and I did want to read to the end to find out how things are ultimately resolved.

[Ellie Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book and how everyone dealt with the situation. Like the real dad and how he didn't care about how his son would get home and he just dropped him off with no money and he hadn't packed anything, he just left him there with no intention of helping him get home what-so-ever. This was just one of those books that I would sit down and read again if I had the time to do so.

[CJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book several times in print. This was my first time to listen to to it on audiobook. I loved it just as much this time as I have every other time I've read it--possibly more, because the narrator was fantastic.

This isn't one of the most popular YA books out there (few people I know have heard of it). It will always be one of my favorites.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this book

Even after a long hard day when I am tired and would rather not read, I am still enjoying this book.

I think the author does a good job of catching the confusion that settles after a major upset in life. I find the child character's believable and well drawn out. ( much more developed than the typical child characters.)

[Handeela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry but this is not my cup of tea. I remember reading it when I was younger and enjoying it a lot more, but the second more recent time I read it was not as good of an experience. Most of the characters are underdeveloped and sound whinny which makes it annoying to read. The only part I enjoyed was the conclusion/ending passage. Overall, the story is alright.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really good and I really saw a side of divorce that I have never seen before. Especially since I have never experienced it. You can really see into the character's heart and feel what she feels.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned from this book that when your young you have a great capacity to love a wayward parent and that kids from divorced homes just really want to see both parents even a small amount even it they are bad