The Night She Disappeared

by April Henry, Kate Rudd (Read by)

Overview

Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part-time as a delivery girl at Pete's Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working.

Gabie can't move beyond the fact that Kayla's fate was really meant for her. She becomes obsessed with finding Kayla and teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete's. Together they set out to prove that Kayla isn't dead—and hopefully to find her before she is—in The Night She Disappeared by April Henry.

This title has Common Core connections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469277851
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 14 Years

About the Author

April Henry is the author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including Girl, Stolen. Her novel Face of Betrayal, which she cowrote with Lis Wiehl, was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

When 17-year-old Kayla Cutler, an employee at Pete’s Pizza, disappears while delivering an order, her fellow employees are shocked and disturbed. Unfolding over the two weeks after Kayla vanishes, Henry’s (Girl, Stolen) heart-pounding mystery alternates among the perspectives of numerous characters, including Kayla’s co-workers Gabie, who is traumatized by Kayla’s kidnapping (and believes that she was the intended target), and Drew, a “straight-C stoner” who is supporting his drug-addicted mother, as well as a diver searching the Willamette River, a psychic, Kayla herself—and the man who kidnapped her. As Kayla plots an escape from the room in which she’s being held, Gabie and Drew try to investigate what happened to her, holding out hope that she’s still alive. It’s a riveting story that many readers will finish in one sitting, full of suspects and augmented by police reports, interviews, and newspaper articles that, along with the variety of voices, make the events feel all the more real. Each chapter is a surprise, and the tension builds steadily until the inevitable climactic face-off. Ages 12–up. Agent: Wendy Schmalz, Wendy Schmalz Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

The reader must wait with baited breath to see when and if the characters will uncover the truth as the suspense builds to a fever pitch near the end of the book.” —VOYA

“Fans of intense page-turners and those who liked Michele Jaffe's Rosebush or Lucy Christopher's Stolen will love this one.” —School Library Journal

“It's a riveting story. . . . Each chapter is a surprise, and the tension builds steadily until the inevitable climactic face off.” —Publishers Weekly

“Girl, Stolen grabs your attention with the first page you read. . . . Each page holds new questions that are answered in the most unexpected ways.” —VOYA, starred review on Girl, Stolen

“Constantly interesting and suspenseful.” —Kirkus Reviews on Girl, Stolen

“A captivating tale . . . Well-built, complex characters, trapped in their own ways by life's circumstances, which—paired with a relentlessly fast pace—ensures a tense read.” —Publishers Weekly on Girl, Stolen

“Girl, Stolen is page turning suspense with a clever heroine who meets up with bad luck, bad men, a bad dog, bad weather, bad health and has to face them without seeing them. A nail bitter.” —Gail Giles on Girl, Stolen

“A unique and clever premise. Cheyenne has to be one of the most resourceful heroines in recent memory.” —Todd Strasser, bestselling author of Wish You Were Dead, on Girl, Stolen

From the Publisher

10/01/2013
Gr 10 Up—In the tradition of Caroline Cooney and Joan Lowry Nixon, April Henry's latest mystery thriller (Holt, 2012) is best listened to with the lights on. Gabie and Kayla, two high school seniors, are working at Pete's Pizza after school and making plans for college. One day, Kayla switches shifts with Gabie, answers a delivery call, and disappears into thin air. The only clue is a phone call from the kidnapper, John Robertson, asking for the girl in the Mini Cooper (Gabie drives one). What happens next is a detailed exploration of the aftermath of Kayla's disappearance and the search to find her, conducted both by the police who think Kayla is dead, and Gabie, who is convinced she's alive. The story is told through the first-person perspectives of Kayla's coworkers Gabie and Drew, the kidnapper, and Kayla herself. Henry's fast-paced narrative explores the far-reaching effects of an all-too-real situation and the emotional and psychological consequences it can have on a community. Supplementing the story are investigative artifacts and evidence, reminiscent of a TV police procedural. Kate Rudd's raw narration taps into the fear and uncertainty faced by the characters and enhances the tension building in each chapter. This page-turner will leave listeners on the edge of their seats until the very last sentence.—Michaela Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY

School Library Journal - Audio

When a popular high-school girl disappears while delivering pizza at her part-time job, her two fellow employees and classmates try to figure out what happened. Drew Lyle takes the call, Kayla Cutler delivers the pizza, but the man ordering it wants to know if the girl who drives the Mini Cooper--that's Gabie Klug--will be the delivery girl. When Kayla doesn't return, Drew calls the police and the mystery kicks in. Who was the man; what happened to Kayla; why did he ask about Gabie; and, as time begins to pass, is Kayla still alive? Neither Drew nor Gabie, who go to the same high school as Kayla but are work rather than social friends, knows anything, but they are determined to find out. The thriller is narrated using a collage technique. Interspersed with the kids' and perpetrator's first-person accounts are police reports, 911 transcripts, webpages, interviews, etc., which add interest and texture to what otherwise would be a straight genre tale. The police seem amazingly obtuse, Gabie's belief that Kayla is alive is given no realistic, clue-based hook and the third quarter has some pacing problems. Still, Gabie and Drew's budding relationship is believable, and it has a strong wingding climax followed by a feel-good ending. Unexceptional but solid. (Mystery. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews