Home in Time for Dinner

Gr 8 Up—In 1992 suburban Dallas, 10th-grader Chris Ramsay is good at following orders, especially those coming from his overly strict father. When he sees a computerized image of a boy who has been missing since toddlerhood and recognizes his own face, he snoops through his father's stuff. In the back of a drawer he finds evidence that his father kidnapped him from his mother, who may still be alive in Canada. Chris makes the arduous trip from Texas to Kingston, encountering thieves, drunken rockers, a kind family, and a gang of street kids, including beautiful, mysterious Moth. While prostitution and drug addiction are alluded to, the action happens offstage and a romantic encounter between Moth and Chris ends at a kiss. Chris holds himself to a high moral standard and his decisions and interactions with others lead to long passages of self-reflection. At times this soul-searching slows down an otherwise swift pace, but it also adds depth to Chris's character. Readers of Peg Kehret's Abduction! (Dutton, 2004) and Caroline B. Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton (Bantam, 1990) will find Home in Time for Dinner a welcome addition to the books about missing kids.—Alison O'Reilly, Cutchogue New Suffolk Free Library, NY