The One Left Behind
Grade 5-7 Feeling as though the rest of her large family has moved on, 11-year-old Mandy continues to struggle with the death of her twin. Left alone in her house over a long weekend, she pretends that Angel is still with her, but it no longer worked to pretend anything beautiful, or exciting, or magical. Without Angel to share, Mandy felt broken, destroyed. Midway through the weekend, she discovers a runaway boy, Zander, who has broken into her house. Fugitives from a kidnapping plot, the teen and his toddler brother seek her help, and now she, and not her daring twin, must become courageous and independent. While the story seems slight, Roberts's characters possess an emotional immediacy that is hard to deny. Mandy and Zander face troubles that leave them incomplete, and the drama of outthinking and outrunning the kidnappers imbues what might otherwise be just an issue book with page-turning pacing. Give this quick read to girls not quite ready for Caroline Cooney or Lurlene McDaniel.Caitlin Augusta, The Darien Library, CTCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.