Sarah Everett's surprising, full-hearted second work of middle-grade fiction, The Shape of Lost Things, depicts the changes that take place in one family when a Black girl's brother is returned home by his abductor father.
Four years ago, Skye and Finn's dad kidnapped then-10-year-old Finn and went on the run. Now 12-year-old Skye fills in for her older brother every September 3rd for his "MIA birthday." But Skye thinks of herself as "a very bad Rent-a-Finn"; Finn was "hilarious and fun and cool" while Skye would rather watch everyone from behind the lens of her Polaroid camera. Then, suddenly, everything changes. First, Skye's mom's boyfriend, Roger, asks Skye's permission to marry her mother; then the family receives a phone call that Finn has been found on the side of a highway, hundreds of miles away from their California home. Everyone is excited to have Finn back, but Skye doesn't know this Finn: "He is quiet and... takes up so little space that the air still feels empty, like he's not here at all." Skye wonders if it's possible they brought back the wrong boy.
Everett (The Probability of Everything) delivers a stellar middle-grade novel told through the eyes of an introverted tween trying to heal from trauma as she finds her place in a new, blended family. Short chapters keep up the pace as Skye navigates the unexpected and her brother's reintroduction to the family. Everett gives Skye plenty of room to explore her emotions, making this an excellent read for fans of Renée Watson or Kekla Magoon's books for young readers. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer