Missing Persons : Case #1: The Rose Queen

Missing Persons #1

by M.E. Rabb

Sophie and Sam Shattenberg are two Jewish sisters from Queens, New York. Both love knishes and kosher pickles. Both have said “I'm wawkin' here!” to cab drivers—and meant it. When the unthinkable happens and their father dies, the girls are devastated. Desperate to get away from their greedy stepmother, they withdraw their father's money from the bank, pick up fake IDs, and hit the road. All is well until their car breaks down outside of Venice, Indiana, a town so isolated that the mechanic tells them, “You could get lost here forever.” Which is exactly what they decide to do....

Sam and Sophie arrive in the small town of Venice, decide to stay, and try to blend in. They get jobs, make friends, and practice “talking the talk” instead of “tawking the tawk.” Then the most popular girl in town—the queen of the upcoming Rose Festival—disappears. The sisters were the last people to see her and so become prime suspects. Sophie and Sam realize that they're going to have to find the missing girl themselves if they want to clear their names. Even if their names are fake....

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Crime

207 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

M.E. Rabb also writes as Margo Rabb.

Reviews

[Kai Yi · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Sophie and Samantha(Sam) Shattenberg are two sister that ran away home because of their evil stepmother. Their dad left a fortune, but their evil step mother try to inherit. Sam, the one with the brains, came up a whole plan to escape the control of their stepmother. Starting a new life at Venice isn't easy, they are solving mysteries of missing people, but at the same time they are trying to make themselves stay missing as well.

This book is really interesting and i would recommend this book to anyone. Sophie and Sam has the life life that every teen would want(I think).

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very different sort of mystery. The main characters are two orphaned underage sisters on the run from a wicked stepmother. THey settle in a place completely oposite from where they came from and make a new life. They also solve a NON murdering mystery! This is a first for me to read. I will continue to read this series. This is a good teen mystery series that adults might enjoy if they are able to suspend beliefs on some of the abilities of kids to look out for themselves. I can do this! The novel has some very sad and seious themes of grief and loss that the girls deal with and probably will continue to deal with throughout the series.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful story that, while set in the mid-2000s, really exists in a simpler, gentler time. While the premise is contrived, this is just a nice story that sets up some interesting questions and focuses on the further growth for the characters, rather than the reality that would surely catch up with Sam and Sophie (or Fiona) in the real world.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first found this book in my high school library many years ago, and I remember not being able to put it down. Every overly imaginative kid has dreams of running away from home and fending for themselves, and I loved a good teen mystery - this series of books called to all of my deepest desires, and unlike an Enid Blyton tale it did it in a way that felt modern somewhat realistic.

The book begins with 15 year old Sophie's older sister Samantha dragging her out of bed at 2am, telling her to pack a suitcase. Sam is a very smart and level headed girl who's spent the last 18 months concocting a plan to run away from their evil stepmother and take on a new identity, and their father's very recent death means it's time to execute it. Here lies my first main issue with the overall narrative - Sam is only 17, but has the logic and personality of an adult. I understand that the author likely did this to skirt around the 'orphan custody' issue, but I would have preferred it if Sam was in her twenties and their father's will left Sophie to the stepmother.

But thankfully that doesn't matter too much, because the story is in first person with Sophie as the narrator. She has a moderately convincing 15 year old's voice, and her passing thoughts about boys, feelings toward the popular girls, and general impulsiveness is fun. After packing up and driving off the sisters cut off all ties adopt a new identity and, much to Sophie's distress, move from Brooklyn to a sleepy town in the Midwest. There they become suspects of a local girl's disappearance, and work to solve the mystery and clear their name. They make charming friends along the way and get into trouble several times.

Although not perfect I enjoyed this book immensely, and will definitely keep reading the series.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about two sisters named Sophie and Sam from Queens, New York, who have not had the best life. With both of their parents dead they have decided to runaway from their hometown and try to create new lives in the city of Venice, Indiana. The sisters have changed almost everything about themselves so they would not get caught. Little did they know that they showed up in that city at the wrong time. A girl named Noelle had gone missing only a couple days into them staying in Venice. A lot of fingers were pointed at them but they know they didn't do it so all they could do know is help solve this missing Person case while being stayed hidden themselves.

I chose this book because I don't read a lot of stories where someone goes missing while the main characters have ran away as well so its a book full of action and I like those types of books so I decided to give this book a try. One thing I liked about this story is how they almost have to survive on their own without any adults which I personally like but then at the same time thats what I don't like about it because before the sisters left no one from their family was even looking out for them and I barely here about other family members in the story which I didn't like. Overall in my opinion I thought this was a good book.

[Stacey Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sam and Sophie's father has passed away and they're left with their step mother Enid in NYC. Knowing that Enid will separate them sending Sophie to boarding school they decide....well Sam decides they will take all the money (that is rightfully theirs) that Enid would inherit and they run away. Sam knows someone who gives them new identities and a car. They head out with new names, ages and hair color. When the car breaks down in the small town of Venice, Indiana the girls have to make do. Maybe staying in Venice wouldn't be a bad idea, the people seem nice and no one would find them here right? As they start a new life in a place where everyone knows everyone else, they are the new out of towners. When a local girl goes missing they become the number one suspects. Noelle was in their car the night before she went missing but Sam and Sophie had nothing to do with it....but proving that is difficult. Being the center of attention is not good for two girls trying to run from the law and their step mother. They decide they must find out what happened so they won't be suspects anymore and can get out of the limelight.

[rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I have had this book on my childhood shelf for ages, and just never read it!! I’m not even certain when I picked it up, but it seems to be a selection from a reading program my middle school did back in the day.

A quick, easy read about two sweet sisters from Queens who have run away from home because of their bad stepmom (stepmonster, it seems lol). Some poignant moments about the loss of their parents and handling grief, and great *chef’s kiss* moments of adolescent independence, though some of it seems a bit of a stretch (at one point, Sophie is on a date with greasy, gross lifeguard Troy and he orders them a round of beer- TEENAGERS!!! DRINKING BEER AT A RESTAURANT WITHOUT BEING CARDED! SHES ONLY 15!!) I guess 2004 was a different time!!!

I hope Sophie and Colin start dating, as is hinted in the epilogue. And I hope Sam is a WLW (which doesn’t seem like it is to be, as the teaser for the next book says she ends up crushing on some new guy in town UGH 🙄)

[Lör K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember much of this at all. But I remember when I first picked it up in my school library, I was hooked in on this series. It was absolutely stunning. The characters were well developed. I could connect to them rather easily. They were beautiful people and I wish I could have these two sisters as friends.

I've only read the first two in this series and I'm definitely going to try to fix that in 2017 but this series gets a definite recommendation from me. They're wonderful, they hooked me right from the beginning and they're a well set up series of books with really good plot lines.

Definitely recommended from younger me!

[bri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Common · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book for young readers. Really enjoyed the series.

[Jaylah Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Missing Persons series. I've read all the books twice and I'm ready to read them a third time.

[Ada · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet book, enjoy it

[Diana Maiorca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an engaging, easy read.

[Jin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Missing Perons #1 : Rose Queen
By M.E.Rabb
186 pp. New York, New York
Penguin Group. $5.99
ISBN#: 0-14-250041-0
WATCH OUT!
It is a big mistake to call the book Missing Persons #1 Rose Queen by M.E.Rabb as a mystery. It has such a deceitful blurb to make readers think it is a mystery. And, this so called "mystery" that is mentioned in the blurb doesn't start until the end of the book. If you are a fan of mystery, you better stay away from this book.
The story starts with Sophie, a "typical" teenage girl and the narrator who lives in Queens, moaning about how her life stinks. Then it goes on with how Sophie and Sam, her sister, run away from their stepmother because they don't like her. It goes on how they get to Venice, Indiana. They rent a house and trying to fit in the neighborhood. I don’t find the relation between Sam and Sophie’s story and the mystery of this evil girl is missing. Basically, there is no purpose of adding the information about the sisters. As I am reading, I want to ask the author, "Rabb, where is the mystery?" It is a waste of paper to publish this book especially the pages about their lives. And, we, the fans of mystery, waste our time to read at least half of this book to find out how this is “mystery”.
The author kept giving flash back about what happened before. Sophie, the narrator tells us about how she lived her father. Sophie says, “… At least before we’d gone to sleep that night, he’d told us he loved us he loved us and we’d told him we loved him, like we always did – we must’ve said it a dozen times a day,…” What does this line has to do with the “mystery”? If blurb called this a mystery, then make the book a mystery. What is the point? If the author wants write about teenagers’ lives, he or she can do that.
Here is an idea about teenagers’ lives I would like to give to the author. Teenagers are ready to start their lives after they go through something. It could be happy or sad. In the beginning of the story, Sophie complains about how she loves her old home more than her new one. After going through her sour and sweet moments, she realizes her new home is not that bad. She thinks the new town is better.
When I first picked the book, I saw “Case #1”. Immediately, I thought it was a mystery about Noelle McBride is missing. Since I am such a big fan of mysteries, I decide to read this book. But it turns that the author so much details about Sam and Sophie’s lives that I want to give up reading this book. But somehow my extreme curious mind made to me to go on reading this “mystery” book. There is definitely no logic involved in this “mystery”, and if I were the author, I would brainstorm about what story I should before I would start writing this so called “mystery”.

[Mella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Missing Persons series when I read it back in the day. So I was pretty excited to see these books were released in a kindle edition. These are lighthearted cosy mysteries featuring two sisters, Sam and Sophie who ran away from their stepmum when their dad died to avoid being separated from each other. Sam is the older sibling, seventeen, just graduated school and supposed to be heading to college. When she learns her stepmum plans to send her fifteen year old sister to boarding school she makes a plan to appropriate the funds from their mum and dad's life insurance policies and savings, get fake identities and move across the country to ensure they're not separated.

Sam is a total badass. For all she's apparently a nerdy quiet type, she has skills. I really liked her and her plans to protect her sister. They're all each other has left so they plan to stick together. Plus her dad made her promise to look after her sister and I really liked the lengths she was willing to go in order to do so. I liked Sophie but I liked her a lot less than Sam. She was alright, she was just so flighty. Her decision to drive without a license was totally irresponsible and I have trouble relating because even as a child I was kind of uptight. I don't think I made any irresponsible decisions. Stupid ones maybe but not life threatening. Her preoccupation with Troy was annoying too. I didn't get the appeal.

The mystery is well plotted and interesting. I can't say I guessed who the kidnapper was. Or that she'd been kidnapped and not murdered. but I really enjoyed letting it unfold. I like the friendship that the girls develop with Gus and the fact that he takes them on as private investigator apprentices (or at least one of them and one secretary). It's not a perfect read but it's a great lighthearted cosy mystery for young adults. Or older adults as the case may be. 4 stars.

[Navaria Lawless · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Missing persons: The Rose Queen is about two sisters, Sophie and Samantha a.k.a Sam, who run away from home just days after their father funeral to avoid being sent to boarding schools and separated from each other by their step mother who their dad had married years after the loss of their mother. One of Sam’s friend help them change their names that way no one knows who they are nor could anyone find them. They were living is New York but they run away to a place called Venice, which was completely different from New York. While in Venice they met many new friends and one enemy, Noelle McBride. Noelle was the queen of the rose parade but when she goes missing the parade gets postponed until she is found. She was last seen with Sophie and Sam and now the police think that they're the reason she is missing. The two sisters go on a adventure to find her so they do not get blamed for something they didn't do. People who might be interested in this book are people who like mystery and suspense. When the book starts to reach the climax you will most definitely want to continue reading until you reach the end. I would say this book is more for the female audience and maybe some males. If you the typical of girl or guy who has busy days and just wants a quick read this would be the perfect book for you.My overall satisfaction with Missing persons is that it is a good book but its not a book I would probably read again. I gave this book three star because although I thought the book was good it had some parts in the book that I felt could use more details. It felt as if something was missing, how ironic. For the most part the author did good at telling the story and making it to where you could see what’s going on in the book in your head. But the good is a good read and I would recommend this book to a friend or family member, I think the would enjoy the book themselves.

[Zhen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sophie and Samantha ran away from home after their father died. They didn't tell anyone that they ran away and with the help of Samantha's friend they had gotten their names changed. So people won't know where they are and that they've ran away. They ended up in Venice starting a new life. Living in a new place is hard to fit into since they're from New York, a totally different from Venice. In Venice Sophie and Samantha met some really nice people but also a enemy too, Noelle McBride. Noelle McBride was missing and she is the rose queen of the parade so now the parade has to be postponed until she's found. But Noelle was last seen with Sophie and Samantha. So now the police think that they were the ones that had kidnapped Noelle. So the sisters go on a journey to find Noelle.

[Tessa Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This summer this book was recommended to me,at first it looked like a long never ending mystery. After I got into it I thought it was a great mystery, very suspenseful and fun to read!! I liked this book because it had many different characters, it was a modern, funny, and not sad book! Also it had a great mystery plot, I loved how they were changing scenes ever so often, to keep the book rolling. One of my favorite scenes was when they were leaving New York, it was very suspenseful and it started off the book in a different way, it also introduced the sisters in a great way. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes a fast pace and fun book! I cant wait to read the rest of the series!

[adA · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of the series and Sam and Sophie's fatehr just passed away. Everything is left for teh stepmotehr to take care of them but knowing that they will both have to separate since the stepmother is evil to send them to boarding schools and so they know they must do something. Sam stole all the money from the mother and had her friend made two fake IDs for them. They also dyed tehir hair and changed their names and moved to Venice. They tried to stay missing and avoid the detectives while becoming detectives themselves trying to find the Rose Queen so teh parade in the scty can continue.

[Xiu Ling · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about two sisters who stole their stepmother's money (she inherits it from the sisters'father. In other words, it is not suppose to be owned by the stepmother) and run away to another town. They try to live a life but they worry about getting caught everyday. Then there comes a mystery in the town they live. They become detectives to solve the case. This book fits people who love mysteries. There are other continuing books in this series also.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

i might have been the only person in my library who read this during the early days of ya (i'm dating myself, but when i was in middle school there weren't that many ya books published), and it's sad that it's hard to find a print version of this series. maybe it was because the sisters are from queens and seemed like people i would know, or the fact that there was mystery in a small-town kind of vibe, i really enjoyed this four-book series.

[Huiling_mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing Persons The Rose Queen by M.E.Rabb, is a thrilling mystery on how two teen age girls ran away form home. Their mother died and so did their father from heart problems. Sophie and Sam Shattenberg are two sisters from Queens in New York who moves to Indiana, Venice. To escape their evil stepmother Enid.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

About time I read this, since I always recommend this series to girls looking for a mystery to read. A quick read. I'm actually interested enough in the main characters, sisters Sam & Sophie, enough that I'll probably read the rest of the series now.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be sweet and fun. So refreshing to read of two teen sisters who are close and don't use profanity. I really enjoyed reading about them beginning a new life and making new friends. The mystery of the missing teen from their new town is an added bonus. Nice clean read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little small town detective story

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very cute mystery series. Girls will love Sophie and Sam. This is a quick read.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good!

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this whole series over one sick day in high school. I've been trying to find copies ever since. They're delightfully simple and entertaining. Just cute.

[grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

read a long time ago

[Celestasaurus]

It's been a while, but because I can even remember this book I rate it 3 stars. Must read again and re-rate.