Another girl vanished on the same day.
Finch’s disappearance changes the life of each family member, physically and emotionally.
Wren now lives in fear of everything. Her mother finds escape from her pain through work.
Dad cries behind the bathroom door.
Withdrawn
and unable to talk about her loss and grief, Wren's group of friends back away,
unable to know how to comfort her.
When Freddie, a too tall girl from a wealthy family approaches Wren in friendship, the grieving Wren hopes that this new presence will restore something in her.
Freddie has secrets of her own and a history of something she refuses to discuss. But acceptance is part of friendship
and for both girls, a necessary balm.
Who is the girl that sits alone in the shadows.
Determined to discover what is causing such withdrawal, the two new friends, propelled
by their own experiences and the compassion for others in similar circumstances, are determined to discover the reason.
Kate Gordon’s work addresses missing people; lost children that disappear and are never found, and the devastating effect it has on their loved ones. The not knowing that is always there, is more destructive than the alternative. So is the continuing hope that they will be found that never leaves them.
There are subtle nuances regarding Finch’s gender, with the theme of being different appearing again in her novels.
In another wonderful piece of work, Gordon uses repetition to magnify the sorrow and withdrawal from life that this type of loss, causes.
Title: My Brother Finch
Author: Kate Gordon
Publisher: Riveted Press, $17.99
Publication Date: 3 July 2024
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780645869347
For ages: 10 – 14
Type: Middle Grade Fiction