A Void the Size of the World

May 15, 2017
A small-town teen copes with the disappearance of her sister.Rhylee has always felt inferior to her year-older sister, Abby. A cross-country star, Abby is beloved by everyone in their largely white, rural Ohio town and is dating Rhylee's longtime friend and crush, their neighbor Tommy. When Abby sees Rhylee and Tommy kissing at a party, she runs off into the woods--and doesn't come home. As days of searching turn into weeks, Tommy becomes a prime suspect, Rhylee's feelings of guilt double--she's convinced she's at fault and that Tommy is innocent--and she is forced to contend with the notion that Abby may indeed have died. Yet those desperate for signs of Abby's survival see them everywhere: a crop circle in the backyard (a prank or supernatural?), muddy footprints in a bedroom, movement in the woods. As searches turn into nightly community vigils in the family's backyard, Rhylee struggles with invasions to her privacy and her grieving process as she learns to live with no closure. Alpine does a fair job of showing--albeit without subtlety--the challenges of coping with loss and uncertainty while in the public eye. However, the structural use of Abby's disappearance as the impetus for Rhylee's blandly predictable personal growth may disappoint both feminist readers and those looking for greater emotional depth. A lukewarm effort. (Fiction. 14-17)

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July 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-This sophomore novel is an average entry in the YA suspense genre. Rhylee and her sister's boyfriend are in love. Rhylee and Tommy had been best friends until she rejected him, and despite his new relationship with Abby, Rhylee and Tommy can't resist each other. When Abby catches them together, she runs into the woods-and disappears. What comes next is an exploration of the guilt and grief of Rhylee, her parents, and their community. What does not follow is an intriguing work of suspense. Teens may understand that Rhylee feels responsible for her sister's disappearance, but the secondary focus on Rhylee's mother might alienate them. A peripheral plot of mysterious circles that appear on the family's property seems forced, and the relationship between Rhylee and Tommy is abandoned, ostensibly owing to Rhylee's guilt, and young adults may feel frustrated that the driving force for the earlier events in the narrative nearly disappears after the first couple of chapters. While the ending is realistic, it is also ultimately unsatisfying. VERDICT A readable selection that will find a home in large public library collections, but not a necessary purchase.-Karen Brooks, Gig Harbor Pierce County Library, WA

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