Publishers Weekly
★ 08/26/2013
Twelve-year-old Mila has remarkable powers of observation, but even more impressive is her insight into people’s minds. This may be why her college-professor father takes her with him from London to America to track down his oldest friend, who has suddenly disappeared, leaving his wife and young son behind. The mission, which takes them through upstate New York, is more complicated than Mila expects, with clues not quite adding up and disturbing secrets unveiled, including the realization that her father hasn’t been entirely honest. Teeming with complex adult problems—infidelity, marital collapse, the death of a child—this thought-provoking coming-of-age story requires that readers be at least as mature as Mila as she confronts unpleasant truths. Yet Rosoff’s (There Is No Dog) writing isn’t all gloom and doom. Mila’s sharp observations of the people she meets and the winter landscape add a fresh, poetic aura to her discoveries and the novel as a whole. “The sun is shining, the sky impossible blue,” she thinks. “The world looks so dazzling, I almost can’t bear to look at it.” Ages 12–up. Agent: Zoe Pagnamenta, Zoe Pagnamenta Agency. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Picture Me Gone:
* “Teeming with complex adult problems—infidelity, marital collapse, the death of a child—this thought-provoking coming-of-age story requires that readers be at least as mature as Mila as she confronts unpleasant truths. … Mila’s sharp observations of the people she meets and the winter landscape add a fresh, poetic aura to her discoveries and the novel as a whole.” —Publishers Weekly starred review
* “With strong characters and a well-articulated plot, Picture Me Gone is a welcome addition to any collection. The author accurately captures this mature adolescent's view of adults without condescension or judgment, a feat worthy of praise. Complex issues are dealt with, and, true to the novel's trajectory, a tidy ending would have been out of place. Rosoff does not disappoint.”—School Library Journal starred review
* “A brilliant depiction of the complexity of human relationships in a story that's at once contemplative and suspenseful.” —Kirkus starred review
Accolades for Meg Rosoff:
Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
Michael L. Printz Award
Brandford Boase Award
Julia Ward Howe Prize (Boston Authors Club)
Carnegie Medal in Literature
Shortlist for the LA Times Book Prize
YALSA Alex Award Winner
National Book Award nominee
School Library Journal
★ 10/01/2013
Gr 7–10—Rosoff is back with another young protagonist trying to navigate the confusing adult world. Mila, a middle schooler with a knack for tapping into others' secret thoughts, travels to New York state from London with her father. Their original plan had been to visit with Matt, the family friend who once saved her father's life, but he disappeared two days before their arrival, creating tension between Mila's father, Gil, and Matt's wife, Suzanne. Gil and Mila leave Suzanne and her young son behind as they search haphazardly around northern New York, looking for clues about Matt's whereabouts. Along the way, Mila exchanges several texts with him and wrestles with keeping them secret from her father. As more characters are introduced, Matt's reasons for leaving become even more clouded, and Mila's father is implicated as an accomplice in the disappearance. Mila must keep her wits about her to get to the bottom of this complicated scenario. With strong characters and a well-articulated plot, Picture Me Gone is a welcome addition to any collection. The author accurately captures this mature adolescent's view of adults without condescension or judgment, a feat worthy of praise. Complex issues are dealt with, and, true to the novel's trajectory, a tidy ending would have been out of place. Rosoff does not disappoint.—Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2013-08-15
Mila, 12, a keen observer of people and events, accompanies her translator father, Gil, on a journey from London to upstate New York in search of Gil's lifelong friend, who's disappeared. Mila applies her puzzle-solving skills to the mystery of why Matthew would abandon his wife and baby, not to mention his dog. On a road trip to Matthew's cabin in the woods, she mulls over the possibilities while Gil keeps his thoughts to himself. Mila, who finds strength in her multinational pedigree and her ability to read people, is the one who eventually puts the pieces of the story together. Rosoff respects her young character, portraying her as a complete person capable of recognizing that there are things she may not yet know but aware that life is a sometimes-painful sequence of clues to be put together, leading to adulthood. The author skillfully turns to a variety of literary devices to convey this transition: the absence of quotation marks blurs the line between thoughts spoken and unspoken; past, present, and future merge in Mila's telling just as they do in the lives of the characters as truths come to light and Mila is able to translate Matthew's darkest secrets. A brilliant depiction of the complexity of human relationships in a story that's at once contemplative and suspenseful. (Fiction. 11 & up)
