The Mystery of the Missing Mum

A child launches into detective mode after his mother goes suddenly missing in Moloney’s London-set, character-driven debut. When young Jake and his teen sister, Rose, wake up one Monday morning before Christmas, their white-presenting mother is nowhere to be found, but their grandmother is snoozing in a chair downstairs. Other events prove equally perplexing to Jake: a note from his mother indicates that she has to “go away for awhile”; Jake’s father, who lives nearby, doesn’t seem to know what’s going on; and Jake’s Polish best friend Lukas begins acting distant. Jake makes a list of “places Mum might have gone” (the E.U., the Bahamas, the hospital, Tesco, and Christmas shopping, among others), and as he crosses off each one, he unearths difficult memories, relayed in italicized interstitials, that reveal clues about her whereabouts. Bold capitals emphasize phrases in nearly every paragraph, frequently conveying Jake’s anxious urgency to be reunited with his mother and regain control over his world (“Why did she have to leave? NONE OF IT MADE ANY SENSE”). More family story than whodunit, the plot turns toward emotional discoveries via an arc of maturation and finding hope despite life’s uncertainties. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)