Book Review: Every Missing Piece by Melanie Conklin

Every Missing Piece

by Melanie Conklin (j Conklin)

 

Maddy’s father drowns in an accident when she is eight. Now at the age of eleven, she finds herself freaking out and imagining an emergency around every corner. She is on a first name basis with Sheriff Dobbs, based on the number of calls she makes to his office. But how can she stay silent when she sees something she thinks is wrong? “All it takes is one little mistake, and your world can change forever. For example, you can end up without a dad.”

 

An Amber Alert is issued for a boy her age, Billy Holcomb, from another part of North Carolina. It’s all over the television and radio. Maddy imagines where the boy might be — perhaps he’s the new boy in town she has discovered hiding out and setting traps out by the cemetery. Even if she’s right, who would believe her? The girl who is always crying wolf? Her new stepfather, Stan, tries to befriend her, distract her, protect her. But she isn’t ready for someone to replace her father. I enjoyed Every Missing Piece and the thoughtful way the author compared life to a puzzle. Sometimes the pieces of your life fit just right. Sometimes your world gets tilted and the pieces get messed up. Sometimes some of the pieces go missing. In this book Maddy finds that life can change and turn into a completely different new puzzle. And that’s not a bad thing, as long as she can face life with the new pieces of her family together.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Pencilvania by Stephanie Watson, or Clues to the Universe by Christina Li.)

 

( official Every Missing Piece page on the official Melanie Conklin web site )

 

Recommended by Cindy K.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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