The Leaving
-
-
4.3 • 7 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back--with no idea of where they've been. A riveting mystery for fans of We Were Liars.
Eleven years ago, six kindergartners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.
Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max--the only one who hasn't come back. Which leaves Max's sister, Avery, wanting answers. She wants to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story. But as details of the disappearance begin to unfold, no one is prepared for the truth.
This unforgettable novel--with its rich characters, high stakes, and plot twists--will leave readers breathless.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a twisting, harrowing story set over a few weeks, Altebrando (My Life in Dioramas) brings readers to a small town where six kindergartners disappeared without a trace and left an entire community grieving. The story begins on the day that five of the six return, 11 years later, their memories gone. Two of the five, Lucas and Scarlett, narrate, along with Avery, the sister of the child still missing; their alternating voices begin to piece together the mystery behind the "Leaving" and try to heal wounds of anger and loss among those left behind. In order to represent the teens' fractured memories, Altebrando toys with the formatting and layout of the text: Scarlett's words rise and fall in places, stretch, and are broken up by scatterings of slash marks, and Lucas's thoughts are repeatedly interrupted by fragmented images ("bloody backpack gun carousel") set in capitalized white text in black boxes. It's engrossing, both as a thriller and a meditation on memory its limits, its loss, and the ways it deceives and constructs identity. Ages 13 up.
