Rated of 5
by Christine B. (Scottsdale, AZ) Where You Can Find Me
This book although about young Caleb who is reunited with his family after 3 years, is really also the story of his sister Lark who is gone "missing" in another sense. Her brother's abduction has left her lost and alone amid her family's struggles. I found this aspect of the book the most interesting because Caleb's abduction and what happened to him are left fairly ambiguous and wanting. His parent's relationship with all their entanglements really distract from the story. I am glad I read it and I think it would generate good discussion.
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Rated of 5
by Christina C. (Powells Point, NC) Far Fetched and Perverse
I found this book hard to get through. It was a slow read, difficult to pick up again. I found the story a bit far fetched, with plot lines I just found unbelievable. I could not get past these holes to fully believe the book or actions of the characters. I also do not agree this book is about a family, or even the rebuilding of a family. I found this book to be a lot more about pedophiles and perverse things. It actually was unsettling to read an entire book devoted to this subject, especially featuring underage children and related family members. I have never read a book with this subject as the plot and am unsure which category to even place it in. I suppose crime or suspense. However, the ending has no true resolution. A lot of the questions formed remain unanswered, or vaguely touched upon, left to the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks. Overall, this book left me with a disturbed feeling. I read it on high alert, weary of upsetting plot lines. I wish more pages had been devoted to the family and their rebuilding, as well as resolving the crimes for a more concrete ending.
Rated of 5
by Janet P. (Houston, TX) Interiors...
A mother's anguished love for a son who has returned from the depths of hell to which fate had seemingly committed him, his sister's pure, nonjudgmental love for him, the first and only knight in her young existence, and the victim's remorseful guilt and an subconscious wish to return to the life of his past three years rather than face the difficulties of re-entering the "family" life of his youth are warmly created in Sheri Joseph's beautifully written WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME. The author's empathy for the family caught in this trying situation is effectively transmitted through words spoken and left unspoken. The reader wiill feel the strength of the mother's emotion and comprehend her need for physical passion in her life as an anecdote for dark thoughts her mind will not dismiss. This contradiction, this desire to make everything picture-perfect drives the plot forward even as the young victim of society's worse type of abuse makes his way through the rich jungle setting of the landscape that echoes his interior landscape as well. Joseph's rich, colorful description of Costa Rica with its beautiful flowers, luscious fruit and incredible animal life juxtaposed against the poverty (both literal and figurative) of the characters creates a plot this reader won't soon forget. Satisfied and richer for having read it...that's how I feel. Book clubs would enjoy the food for thought.
Rated of 5
by Carole V. (West Linn, OR) Moving and complex
A boy of 11 who was missing for 3 years is returned to his family. This book is tangled and disturbing; Caleb himself trying to figure out who he really is, after the horrors that he witnessed; and his parents and younger sister trying to piece the family back together; with a boy who is profoundly changed. Deeply moving.
Rated of 5
by Michelle N. (Hillsdale, NJ) Just a bit slllooowww....
The premise of this book sounds great - kidnapped boy comes back; shattered family; move to Costa Rica ..yet I felt that the story moved so slowly it just didn't capture my interest - I had to force myself to continue reading until the end, and it never really pulled me in. The characters are just okay - the mother, Marlene, seems underdeveloped, you never really get a sense of her, the chapters with the sister, Lark, are just dull. I really wanted to like it, because I thought the storyline sounded great, but it fell short of my expectations.
Rated of 5
by William E. (Honolulu, HI) Surrogate Families
What a great read! Caleb, recently found after being kidnapped by pederasts, is safely home again. The family dynamics have changed with a vengeance! The book is about how families reconstitute themselves after horrific tragedies. I highly recommend this wise book
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