If You Find Me: A Novel

by Emily Murdoch

Overview

NOW INCLUDING A BRAND-NEW EPILOGUE!

There are some things you can't leave behind...

In If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, a broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence; the one bright spot is Carey's younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother has disappeared for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.

Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won't let her go...a dark past that hides many secrets, including the reason Jenessa hasn't spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250033277
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	377,504
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

EMILY MURDOCH lives in the Arizona desert with her husband and adopted dogs, spending her days operating a sanctuary for slaughter-rescued horses and burros. At night, she writes furiously by candlelight, capturing the ideas inspired by the day. If You Find Me is Murdoch's first published novel.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“First-time author Emily Murdoch has written a painful, hopeful, surprisingly quiet book that charts the best and worst of humanity, especially family, with characters who worm their way into your heart—or repulse the reader’s very nature. Her narrative is full of unique yet breathtaking similes, detailed descriptions, and unflinching dialogue all masquerading as backwoods Tennessee dialect... She validates the courage and ingenuity of young people the world over for whom survival is instinctive; protection of siblings is nonnegotiable; and love both a right and a gift bestowed upon those fortunate enough to find it.” – Booklist (Starred Review)

“Within two pages, I was so hopelessly hooked, I felt like the story had attached itself to me. The storyline is original and suspenseful, but most of all, it was Carey’s voice that had me flipping the pages. This is one of those books you devour." – Jennifer Brown, author of Hate List

"If You Find Me grabbed me by the heart on page one and didn't let go till the very last word. Murdoch's language is lovely, her storytelling gripping.” —Carol Lynch Williams, author of The Chosen One

“Searing . . . hurt my heart and will probably haunt my dreams – a beautiful book about survival, identity, family, love and so much more.” —Jenny Downham, author of Before I Die

 

Editorial Reviews

A story about redemption, self-forgiveness and the healing power of truth...emotional truth. Lyrical...heart-wrenching.” —New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“Beautifully written. The deep bond between the sisters is almost physically palpable, as is their intense longing for love and acceptance; they will quickly endear themselves to readers.” —School Library Journal (Starred Review)

“A compelling narrative that is both unflinching about life's pain and hopeful about its possibilities.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“First-time author Emily Murdoch has written a painful, hopeful, surprisingly quiet book that charts the best and worst of humanity, especially family, with characters who worm their way into your heart-or repulse the reader's very nature. Her narrative is full of unique yet breathtaking similes, detailed descriptions, and unflinching dialogue all masquerading as backwoods Tennessee dialect... She validates the courage and ingenuity of young people the world over for whom survival is instinctive; protection of siblings is nonnegotiable; and love both a right and a gift bestowed upon those fortunate enough to find it.” —Booklist (Starred Review)

“Within two pages, I was so hopelessly hooked, I felt like the story had attached itself to me. The storyline is original and suspenseful, but most of all, it was Carey's voice that had me flipping the pages. This is one of those books you devour.” —Jennifer Brown, author of Hate List

“If You Find Me grabbed me by the heart on page one and didn't let go till the very last word. Murdoch's language is lovely, her storytelling gripping.” —Carol Lynch Williams, author of The Chosen One

“Searing . . . hurt my heart and will probably haunt my dreams - a beautiful book about survival, identity, family, love and so much more.” —Jenny Downham, author of Before I Die

“Carey and Nessa's story is memorable and deeply moving, and readers will find it very easy to fall in love with these girls.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Gr 9 Up—Following a bitter custody battle, Carey's mentally ill, junkie mother kidnapped her and disappeared. Living in a broken-down camper hidden deep in the woods of Tennessee, Carey, now 14, takes care of her younger sister, Janessa, who is selectively mute, while their mother seeks her next fix. When protective services intervene, Carey's father, a man she only knows through her mother's lies, reclaims the girls and takes them to live with him, his new wife, and his stepdaughter. Over the following weeks, the sisters encounter luxuries often taken for granted: square meals, running water, warm beds, and a loving family. Carey even experiences first love with a boy from her past. But she doesn't feel she deserves this happily ever after because of a terrible secret: she did something horrific in order to protect her sister. Would her new family still want her if they knew the truth? Murdoch's debut is beautifully written. The deep bond between the sisters is almost physically palpable, as is their intense longing for love and acceptance; they will quickly endear themselves to readers. This absorbing title will find a captivated audience with fans of Caroline B. Cooney's "The Janie Novels" series (Delacorte) and Sara Zarr's books.—Alissa J. Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI

School Library Journal

…in a book like this, a story about redemption, self-forgiveness and the healing power of truth, the plot's believability isn't as important as its emotional truth. The power of that is apparent from the beginning, thanks especially to Murdoch's lyrical strengths…In Carey, Murdoch gives us a strong, kind, moral and complex protagonist whose dedication to her younger sister is particularly heart-wrenching.

The New York Times Book Review - Whitney Joiner

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. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Ten years after her abduction, 15-year-old Carey is returned to her father and must face harsh realities about her mother, her little sister and their life in the Tennessee woods. Carey and her younger sister live in a camper deep in a forest, away from anyone who might see and report two girls surviving with their drug-abusing, at-times absent mother, Joelle. It's during one of her longer absences that the girls are found by a social worker and Carey's father. Joelle reared Carey on stories of her abusive father, and the teen fears separation from her sister, Jenessa, who rarely speaks and is totally dependent on Carey. Now she finds herself snatched from a life of bare-bones survival to one of physical comfort with her father and his new family. Despite all she has done to raise and educate Jenessa and herself, Carey is hiding things about their life in the woods and the cause of her sister's silence. This deeply affecting story is made all the more so by Carey's haunting first-person narration. The portrait of a teen attempting to navigate a previously unknown world of family and school is well-drawn, especially the tension between Carey and her new stepsister, Delaney, and Carey's budding relationship with a boy she knew before she disappeared. A compelling narrative that is both unflinching about life's pain and hopeful about its possibilities. (Fiction 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews