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They Never Came Back (2010)

by Caroline B. Cooney(Favorite Author)

3.41 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0385738080 (ISBN13: 9780385738088)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

review 1: Veteran suspense storyteller Caroline Cooney provides readers with a timely plot in her newest offering, They Never Came Back. Five years ago Rory and Cade Lyman fled the country after embezzling millions from their investors, but they had to leave their ten year old daughter Murielle behind, and she ends up shuffled into the foster care system. Cathy Ferris, attending summer school, finds herself amidst unwanted controversy when another student insists she is his lost cousin--Murielle Lyman. Cathy’s resemblance to Murielle attracts the attention of other students and the FBI, who never closed their interest on the Lymans. The story flashes back and forth between Murielle and Cathy’s story until the two stories merge and intersect creating an intriguing read which expl... moreores issues of truth, family ties, and honor.Cooney knows how to write an intriguing plotline. Similar to her popular The Face on the Milk Carton, the story centers on mistaken identity. Adeptly weaving in Murielle’s story with that of Cathy’s until the two collide, Cooney provides readers for an intriguing climb to the story’s climax. Although there are some distractions, such as extra character point-of-view and lack of plot depth, readers will still appreciate the twists and turns. Even though the initial suspense is fair, the ending is unexpectedly satisfying. A suggested book for reluctant readers for its quick pacing and short length.
review 2: She was alone, and was beginning to think what people said was true. Her parents didn’t love her. Murielle Lyman was caught in a terrible situation. Her parents had stolen money and then even worse that fled the country when the authorities found out. This was a great story to read, I would definitely give this book 5 stars. The author came up with a really interesting and different story line to interest readers. Murielle, who is only 10, is torn from her parents after they fled the country. She goes through a lot in the weeks following, and I think the author did a really good job making the story realistic and interesting. Murielle doesn’t want to use her name after everything that happened and now everyone calls her Cathy, and almost nobody knows that she is Murielle Lyman. She wants to see her cousin Tommy again and takes a summer course at his school, because she knows he will be there too. At lunch one day he realizes who she is and begs Cathy to be Murielle. Nobody at the school knows who she really is and she casually act s as if she has no idea what he is talking about. In the book I really like how the author never tells you if Murielle and Cathy really are the same person or not, until the end. This leaves a huge mystery to be solved. I was so excited at the end of each chapter because there were so many different hints the author dropped to help you figure it all out. I could see how the story was really building on different parts in Murielle and Cathy’s lives. Murielle and Cathy are the same person, but the author doesn’t make that obvious at all in the beginning of this story. After finishing the book I realized I really like how the author separated the two “different” lives switching between chapters. Switching between current day (“Cathy” at 15) and her past (Murielle at 10) made it so much easier to understand what really happened, and to describe other events that went on in other characters lives, not just Murielle’s. Another reason I liked this book was how detailed the author made the memories. In a few different chapters there are memories from before Murielle’s parents fled the country. The author really described everything, making realistic statements that I think is the way most people would remember things. Little things were what the author focused on in the memories, like maybe Murielle would remember what she was wearing or what color a specific item was, or exactly how something looked. But she wouldn’t remember as many names, or the bigger things in the memories. I think the author did a really good job describing these memories the way a 10 year old would see them, then include how Murielle felt now, being older, and realizing what actually happened, or what different things meant, now understanding her past much better.Overall this book was really interesting and I would definitely recommend this book! less

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