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  • The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy
  • Kate Quealy-Gainer
Murphy, Emily Bain The Disappearances. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 [400p]
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-544-87936-2 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-328-69900-8 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys         R Gr. 7-10

After her mother dies and her father is called up for service in World War II, fifteen-year-old Aila Quinn and her brother are sent to live with a friend of their mother's in her hometown of Sterling. Immediately, Aila knows something's up, and it's not just because the locals resent the fact her mother left the close-knit community without a thought. Aila and Miles lose their sense of smell; there are no mirrors anywhere; the sky is blank of stars at night; and a pale shade of beige is the town's predominant color. These phenomena are pretty hard to hide, and Aila's guardian informs her that every seven years, an effect the townspeople refer to as the Disappearances takes something ordinary but beloved from their lives—the scent of flowers, the beauty of a night sky, etc.—and that some people blame Aila's mother, Juliet. With the seven-year mark coming up, Aila is determined to find the cause of the Disappearances, not just to lay them to rest but to clear her mother's name. The revelation of the Disappearances at the beginning is a wise move by Murphy, giving Sterling more a sense of desperation than creepiness and allowing Aila to see that these are mostly good people living under a cloud of loss. Aila shares narration with Stefen, a mysterious childhood friend of Juliet's with aims to exploit the Disappearances. The riddle behind the town's curse is an intricate and surprising one, and readers will happily join the clever and witty Aila on her hunt for clues. [End Page 420]

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