Missing - Tapa blanda

This title is for the age-range: 12+. Maxine's parents have had to do perhaps the worst possible thing: confirm the identity of her brother Derek's body by the clothes he was wearing when he disappeared. So the brother who was missing is now officially dead. But then the worst possible thing really happens: Maxine receives a telephone call from somebody saying he is her brother. She can hardly believe her ears. Has Derek come back from the dead? In this pacy thriller, the author manages to confront many issues including: how different people deal with grief/the very under-rated effect of severe bullying at school/sibling rivalry - all in a fast-paced compelling narrative voice.

This is Cathy MacPhail's first novel for Bloomsbury. She has an impressive track record, having also been published by Puffin, and winning the Kathleen Fidler Award with her first novel, Run Zan Run,and the Scottish Arts Counil Award with her second novel 'Fighting Back'. Her work is enormously popular with children, her trademarks being a mix of humour, with pacy and topical story-lines. Cathy lives in Greenock, Scotland.