If You Find Me

Tai Sammons's portrayal of Carrie Blackburn is shaded with a Southern accent and edged with roughness. Sixteen-year-old Carrie has spent 12 years living in the backwoods of Tennessee with her abusive meth-head mother, who kidnapped her. Sammons's narration calls attention to the author's fresh imagery and conveys a convincing portrait of a brave teen who has raised her 6-year-old sister and now suddenly finds herself being thrown into the middle-class world of malls and high school. Sammons's delineation of minor characters adds tension and texture as she gives strong portrayals of Carrie's welcoming stepmother and her angry, displaced stepsister. Carrie's haunting memories of a terrible incident are revealed only at the story's end. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

February 18, 2013
Many years ago, 14-year-old Carey and her younger sister, Nessa, were kidnapped, hidden in the backwoods of Tennessee, and raised apart from society by their meth-addicted mother. After having abandoned the girls for months, she contacts the girls’ father, who rescues them from the trailer where they’ve been living on their own, whisking them away to his gorgeous home, his understanding new wife, and her less understanding daughter. Murdoch’s debut is poetic and beautifully written, and therein lies part of the problem. Carey’s narration wavers between the gaps caused by her isolated upbringing and moments of beyond-her-years brilliance (“handburgers” and fries are a mystery, yet she tests two grades ahead of her age and often delivers lines like, “I duck my head and smile, unmoored by the flood of unexpected emotion”). Add in Carey’s model-level beauty and virtuosity as a violinist, and the novel’s sense of realism takes a hit. That said, Carey and Nessa’s story is memorable and deeply moving, and readers will find it very easy to fall in love with these girls. Ages 12–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, D4EO Literary Agency.