Vanish

by Karen Spafford-Fitz

Overview

Fourteen-year-old Simone is having trouble making friends at her new school when her leadership studies class is paired with kindergarten students to mentor throughout the school year.

To her surprise, Simone enjoys the Kinderbuddy Project, and she develops a special friendship with her Kinderbuddy, Lily. But as the bond between Simone and her Kinderbuddy grows, she realizes that a crisis is looming in Lily's family. Simone calls upon Aaron, the reluctant heartthrob of the class, for help, and they become key witnesses to events neither of them could have predicted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459803510
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/01/2013
Series:	Orca Currents Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	136
Lexile:	580L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Karen Spafford-Fitz is the author of several novels for young people, including Unity Club, Vanish and Dog Walker in the Orca Currents series. She lives in Edmonton.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6–9—Both hi/lo titles deal with loneliness and isolation in high school and move at a brisk pace, but Vanish is the more successful title. When Danny invents a new persona on the Facebook knockoff site FaceSpace in hopes of increasing his popularity, he has difficulty managing both profiles. With phrases like "hey pal" and "partying is excellent" spoken throughout, the dialogue is unrealistic. Although dishonest online behavior is an important teen issue, it is dealt with in a superficial way here. In Vanish, 14-year-old Simone has just moved to a new school and is having difficulty making friends when, because of a class assignment, she forms a special bond with kindergartener Lily. As they start spending time together, Simone learns more about Lily's suspicious home life and starts to mistrust her divorced, bickering parents. While readers should be able to guess the ending before it arrives, Spafford-Fitz successfully builds the mood as she gradually reveals more about Lily's family.—Carrie Shaurette, Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ

School Library Journal

In this addition to the Orca Currents line, written at a third-grade reading level, eighth-grader Simone and a few of her classmates get involved with their school’s Kinderbuddies program, which helps mentor kindergarten students. Simone hits it off with a girl named Lily, but it quickly becomes clear that Lily’s home life is not what it seems. Spafford-Fitz has constructed a light but tense mystery—readers may well guess where things are going before Simone does—and offers strong, realistic portrayals of both the eighth-grade and kindergarten students, especially Simone, who has trouble making friends her own age but is great with kids. Ages 10–14. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A fast-paced book that tackles a hard issue in a surprisingly minimal amount of pages. The dialogue adds to the storyline and helps to make the characters endearing...A great story for reluctant readers."

Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group

"A reluctant reader book that should be in libraries."

CM Magazine

"Teens will identify with Simone’s attempts to make new friends in the unfriendly environment of middle school...Younger readers will enjoy the slight mystery, and the rapid narrative will engage reluctant readers."

Booklist

"Teens will identify with Simone’s attempts to make new friends in the unfriendly environment of middle school...Younger readers will enjoy the slight mystery, and the rapid narrative will engage reluctant readers."

Booklist