Member Reviews

I was looking forward to reading this book, and then I read a couple of reviews about how great the story is, and I couldn’t wait to read it even more. My expectations were high, and they were met!

One of the things I noticed about this book is that it’s the first I’ve read that features a formerly kidnapped character in a nonwhite family. I think the other stories I’ve read about kidnapping have centered around white characters. So I am really glad to see new readers get to see themselves represented in a story like this.

While the characters’ race isn’t a huge component of the story, there are moments that it intersects with what’s happening in the story. I think the author did a great job balancing those instances and letting them have space but keeping the story accessible to young readers.

I loved Skye as a character. She is in the midst of middle school friendship transitions, and that’s compounded by the fact that her mom is in a new relationship, and her brother has returned home after a four-year absence.

Her reactions made so much sense. I especially loved the scenes showing her in therapy and how she was both guarded against being drawn out and yet so clearly needed a space to talk about her life that sometimes she opened up despite herself.

Her relationship with Finn is great, too. His behavior made so much more sense looking back from the end of the book. I thought the author also did a great job keeping Skye centered as the main character but making space for Finn’s trauma, too.

All in all, this is a deeply moving story about family trauma and sibling relationships. I highly recommend this one.

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“And I don’t know if this means anything except that sometimes another thing that can change is how people look to us, depending on how close or far or wide or grainy or clear the picture we have of them is.”

Sarah Everett’s The Shape of Lost Things is an emotionally resonant and poetic middle grade novel on how life—and people—change. The story follows twelve-year-old Skye after her missing brother, Finn, returns home from being taken by their father. Skye feels lost and insecure about her identity, believing that she is uninteresting and without any redeeming qualities. With her father having chosen to take her brother over her and all her friends at school being far more talented and creative, she is unsure what value she brings to her family or her friend group. Soon, however, she begins to suspect that the boy who returned can’t be the real Finn; he’s forgotten all of their secrets, is much quieter, and doesn’t have the scar she knows him to have. To solve this mystery, Skye uses her polaroid camera to capture evidence against Not-Finn and send him away from her true family.

Starting The Shape of Lost Things was a bit of a struggle for me. The heavy subject matter is present from page one, and at first feels almost too dark for the age range it is trying to represent. Once I began reading though, I couldn't put it down. Everett uses poetic language throughout the story and bookends chapters with what is pictured and what is not pictured in Skye’s polaroids, highlighting the pieces of life that she is missing. The lyrical prose and moving character arcs in this book made me cry at least three separate times. The depiction of middle school bullies and crushes felt realistic, and the relationship between Skye with her mother, her new stepfather, and Not-Finn are all deeply poignant. Skye is an incredibly relatable main character, with both her jealousy of her older brother and her interest in capturing the truth. Her stepfather acts as a wonderful comic relief and carries the burden of entering a broken family. The novel has an emotionally intense ending that teaches a lesson on grief, trauma, and change. It has as happy of an ending as you could expect, but also leaves many questions unanswered, which grounds the story. If you are a fan of Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, I highly recommend this book for its representation of African American families, well-written themes, and overall writing style.

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This book arrived in store this week. We have quite a few young readers looking for realistic, contemporary reads. This will be right up their alley. Can’t wait to recommend it to my customers.

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Four years ago, Skye Nickson's father kidnapped her brother, Finn and they disappeared. Every September, their mom throws a MIA birthday party for him, and she's reminded of how much they miss him and just how difficult his absence has been on their mom. Finn has always been her favorite person. Usually, Skye could rely on her best friends, Reece and Jax to cheer her up, but recently, Reece has been acting differently. Mom's new boyfriend, Roger helps to fill in some of mom's loneliness and their cat, Catastrophe has been a nice addition too. Roger even asked Skye for her permission to marry her mom.

When news arrives that Finn has been found, everyone is elated, but this new Finn is nothing like he was before. He's grown taller, is secretive and he doesn't appear to remember any of the special moments they spent together growing up. He's forgotten the family game of "Did you Know" and all the inside jokes they used to share. And what is it with his late-night phone calls and losing things? Skye tries to recapture the Finn of four years ago, but time didn't stand still. Finn has had his own series of events that has shaped him into who he is now and yet Skye can't understand why he isn't happy to be home with them.

Skye loves to take photographs with an old Polaroid camera, she feels that they capture the things we can't see in the moment. And she hopes that by taking pictures of Finn she'll be able to understand him better, but all it does is make her even more suspicious that this Finn can't really be her brother. He doesn't even have the same scar that he had as a kid. She knows that Finn has been in contact with their father, and that he's been lying about it and because she can't trust this new Finn, she even tries to get the police to investigate. When Finn fails to come home one night, everyone begins to suspect foul play. Recalling Finn's phone, Skye manages to contact their dad, and she begins to piece together some of what Finn was going through while he was with their dad. Skye is instrumental in finding Finn and the whole family begins to receive therapy.

Change is a huge theme throughout The Shape of Lost Things. I especially liked the emphasis that "change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can just be a fact. Like day and night, or the fact that some people are cat people, and some people are not." Friends may change, Skye's brother changed, everyone around them may be changing and sometimes even our memory about events can change, but some changes are natural, and we need to adapt with them. Keeping dialog open.

Overall, the story is a little sad but does manage to resolve on a happier note. Skye and her brother learn they had similar feelings of abandonment. Skye feeling that she wasn't "special enough" for her dad to even take her with them. While Finn struggled over his feelings about how no one found him and that it wasn't a choice for him to go. Despite the tight bond they shared being disrupted by their dad's apparent mental health issues, and processing the kidnapping differently, it was nice to finally have them see both sides of the story and to have glimpses of the old Finn emerge. This quick read may delve into some emotionally complex topics like a parent's mental illness and a sibling's abduction and return, but it also includes topics like a first crush, evolving friendships, and a parent's remarriage that kids can easily identify with. I hope you'll have an opportunity to read it and would look forward to reading your thoughts. Feel free to leave me a comment.

** A huge thank you to the Spark Point for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review**

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This story brought a lot of opportunity for discussions with middle grade readers. After a traumatic event, extreme change, kids always go through emotions that adults may not be able to relate to - this story provides emotions that are unfamiliar to us as adults but all too familiar with kids their own age. Friendships, new parents significant others, family changes. Very well written!!

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This book was so good and broke my heart a little bit too. Things came out ok in the end, as most middle grade books do, but it deals with some hard life stuff.

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Skye dreads her brother Finn's birthday, because ever since he was kidnapped by their father four years ago, her mother throws a party on the day. It's difficult, because Finn was Skye's favorite person. She's tried to move on; her mother has a boyfriend, Roger, the family has a cat, and Skye has an interest in taken photographs with a Polaroid camera. She has two friends, Jax and Reece, at Rowland Waters Middle School and also hangs out with classmates and neighbor Nico as they walk dogs. Reece is starting to change, and frequently bothers Skye about whether or not she has a crush on Nico. Roger, whom Skye really likes, asks her if he can propose to her mother, and she says yes. When Finn is found walking alone on a highway in Arizona, her mother is overjoyed that he is coming home. The Finn who returns, however, doesn't seem like her brother. He's 14, very quiet, and doesn't even skateboard anymore. He's become secretive, and when Skye overhears him talking on the phone to their father, she knows he is lying as well. She is so sure that this new brother isn't her real one that she even e mails the police, sketching out her reasons. There are some glimmers of the old Finn, but he doesn't use her old nickname, doesn't remember their old games, and generally seems too distanced to be the real Finn. As the wedding planning ramps up, Skye's doubts grow. When Finn doesn't come home one night, the mother panics. The police won't do anything, but Skye finds Finn's phone and calls their Dad. He picks up, but says Finn isn't with him, and doesn't sound right at all. Skye thinks about everything she remembers about her brother, and manages to find him. He eventually returns home, and the family has to work hard, get help from a family therapist, and relearn what family looks like after a very traumatic experience.
Strengths: Back in the 80s and 90s, there were a fair number of books about parental abduction (Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton and Mazer's Taking Terri Mueller), but these have all fallen apart in my library. It's still a topic that resonates with young readers. Skye has very realistic reactions to her brother's return, and the family handles it as well as can be expected, with Finn in therapy and everyone trying to be attuned to his needs. Skye's apprehension is also well portrayed. I liked that the storyline of Roger's proposal occurs at the same time, especially since Skye is glad that her mother is remarrying. This is a well constructed tale of family trauma and resilience that will circulate well, especially given the intriguing cover.
Weaknesses: It would have been interesting to know more of Finn's story when he was with his father, but since he is not in a position to tell it, that would have been hard. I also was very curious about the fate of his father, especially since he was clearly in need of help.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who liked this author's The Probability of Everything, or stories like Henry's The Girl I Used to Be or or Rellihan's Not The Worst Friend in the World.

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Skye has gotten used to the new normal after Dad left with her brother Finn. When Finn finally returns, there are more questions than answers- but most of all, is he even Finn?

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A good mystery for middle grade readers. Some twists and turns that will leave them second guessing. Love a book that sucks the reader in.

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Readers of Sarah Everett know there will be a twist and a turn and a surprise and a reason to re-read. This book did not disappoint.

In this children's fiction text, Skye's dad has left with (kidnapped?) her brother Finn. After four years, Finn returns ... or does he. This book keeps the reader guessing until the end.

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