Year Without Michael

Macomb Jr-Sr High School Book Reviews

The Year Without Michael

By Susan Beth Pfeffer

I recently checked out a book from our school library. It was called “The Year Without Michael”. The author is Susan Beth Pfeffer. The book is about a fourteen-year-old boy who disappears on his way to play softball at his friends house. The whole Chapman family falls apart while waiting for Michael to come home.

Jody, Michael’s older sister, is determined to find Michael. She knows he didn’t run away, even though the cops are convinced he did. Jody is the only one in the family that tries to keep things from falling apart. Kay, Michael and Jody’s younger sister, convinces herself Michael is dead and everyone should just forget about him. Kay is very stubborn and never listens. Jody is the only one who understands her. Jody’s mother practically losses her sanity listening to Kay and wondering where Michael was. Jody’s father stops trying to save the family because he doesn’t know how to start. Everyone feels like giving up, but Jody stays strong for the sake of her family, herself, and Michael.

As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, Jody still had hope. Her mother even made everyone buy a Christmas present for Michael, in hopes of him coming back. After Christmas was over though, Jody put the presents in Michael’s closet so when he came home, they were waiting for him. Jody was so depressed after that, she decided that she had to move on with her life and to stop thinking about Michael all the time. She became involved in school activities and started hanging out with her old friends. She even found a boyfriend. He decided he couldn’t handle her acting the way she was though.

Things at home were getting worse though with Kay and her mom. Kay kept saying Michael was dead and there was no hope left. Her mother was very upset with her and they fought all the time. Kay pushed her over the limit when she said she hoped Michael was dead. Her mother said that Kay had to move to Florida and live with her grandparents and go to a boarding school there. So when Kay left for Florida, things were just quiet all the time. The rest of the family hardly spoke to each other. Things were just never going to be the same. Jody knew she had to do something.

Jody had a plan to try to save her family and to find Michael. She asked her friend Maris to tell her parents she was staying with her at her aunt’s house with Maris. Jody was going to take a bus to New York City to try to find Michael. When she got off the bus and was in the station, she became very scared. She met this girl who looked about her age. Jody showed her a picture of Michael and the girl said she hadn’t seen him but she knew someone who might have. They walked down a crowded street and met this boy. He said he hadn’t seen Michael but if Michael had been in New York City for the amount of time he was missing, which was about a year, he wouldn’t want to leave. If you were that young and living on the streets on your own, you learned to take care of yourself. He was Michael’s age and he was living on his own. After having a something to drink, Jody left and went to the only place she felt safe. A church. She met a very nice priest and he let her stay at the church until the next day to take the bus back home.

When she got home, her parents were glad she was back, but they knew she went to New York City. They all missed Michael very much. There was nothing they could do but go on. They never knew what happened to Michael and they learned to move on with their lives. I can relate to this book and how Jody feels because I know what its like to lose something you love and not know what happened. My favorite dog in the world just disappeared one day. He never came back. I missed him so much and I hated the fact that I didn’t know what happened to him. Sometimes I wished I would find his body somewhere so I could know what happened to him and where he was. I still don’t know what happened to him and I still miss him very much.

I think you should read this book because it shows how a family could survive the worst feeling in the world. The feeling of not knowing what could have happened to the one you love. I think you would enjoy this book as much as I did and I think you should read it. I know you would like it.

S.A.

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