SuitabookThe Missing Girl
Norma Fox Mazer
- Reading
- If the subject feels intense, read alongside the child and pause after captivity scenes rather than pushing through. Short chapters may make stopping straightforward; discuss reactions without requiring plot details or reassurance about the ending.
- Themes
- Threat and vulnerability: An adult male watches five sisters, selects one as prey, and the abducted sister is held prisoner while the family’s ordinary life continues around the danger. The structure creates suspense by placing the predator’s thoughts beside the sisters’ secrets, dreams and memories.
- Growing up within family life: The sisters are shown through childhood memories, secrets and dreams; the two older sisters’ love desires form a secondary strand that reportedly remains unresolved. The book does not clearly resolve its stance on this.
- Worth knowing
- Before reading, consider whether a stalking-and-abduction plot, an adult predator’s thoughts, and scenes of a child held captive are manageable topics for this reader. Romantic material involving older sisters is also mentioned but unresolved.