Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I say again, awwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Almost 16-year-old Lucas Swain, our narrator.
Lucas' father, Pete, who went missing five years ago.
Violet Park, who resides in a funerary urn.
She's about at the peak of a sarcastic phase that's lasted maybe six years already.
Ed had already told me what he thought I needed to know, which was that the girls were called Natalie (blonde) and Martha (brown), and they were both seventeen. The blonde one, Natalie, was on the gym team and had her belly button pierced and was Ed's, so I was not to try to impress her in any way. I could have Martha apparently, who Ed hadn't bothered to learn anything about.
Jed's not good with elevators. He always stops like a rabbit in headlights when he's supposed to get in one, because he thinks the doors are going to close on him. Because he stops and takes that little bit longer to get it, they usually do.
Lucas' voice makes the book a pleasure to read, as does the storyline, which follows Lucas as he comes to terms with his father's disappearance and investigates the mystery behind his own strange connection with Violet Park. The periphery characters are very much that -- this is Lucas' story -- but they make the most of their appearances and never feel two-dimensional. I found it a really satisfying read.
I read this one before we left for the Midwest, and it has stuck with me -- stayed on past all of the books I've read over the last couple of weeks. I'd especially recommend it to those who enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
*Finding Violet Park in the UK.
I loved this book too. It grabbed me immediately and I really was a little sad when it was over. I enjoyed Lucas' voice so well that I would have been happy to follow him for 200 more pages. Also I'm sad that I'm never having another kid because I have grown so attached to the name Violet from various places. Great name!
My advice? Be careful when googling Jenny Valentine. Also, be careful when running competitions for young people to go off onto the internet and find out more info about Jenny Valentine. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE. I'm just saying.
i have read this but it was called "finding Violet Park"
Yep, Finding Violet Park is the UK title and Me, the Missing & the Dead is the American title.
I could see it working for real life issues, though, what with everything about Lucas' home life and his relationship with his mother and sister and his father leaving and all!