Finished Finding Emma by Steena Holmes. I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.
Ever since her youngest daughter was kidnapped, Megan’s been falling apart. She tries to stay sane and normal for her husband and two other daughters, but it’s not working. She keeps thinking she sees Emma, but she’s always wrong. And then one day, she looks through pictures she took when they went to the fair and she sees Emma in the background.
Meanwhile, Emmie is a young girl who lives with her grandparents. She loves them both, but it’s hard because her grandma is very overprotective. Emmie is barely allowed to leave the house, even with one of her grandparents.
The really cool thing is that the author is donating part of the proceeds of this book to The Missing Children’s Society of Canada. I like when my entertainment goes to worthy causes (although since it was a review copy, that point is moot…but it’s still something you should know about, since YOUR money can help).
This novel reminded me of The Deep End of the Ocean, which is also about a missing child. Unlike that one, however, this novel ended pretty abruptly. It has a good ending, but I would have liked to have known more about what happens after. It also could have benefitted from an editor (Emmie’s pink tiger turns into a pink lion) and there were some things I didn’t understand.
For example, Megan’s husband wants to have a memorial service for Emma because it’s the best thing for their family. But then he says that he doesn’t want to stop looking for her. I didn’t understand the point of the service if they weren’t going to give up on the idea of her coming home.
But this is still an incredibly compelling story, and I identified with Megan immediately.
