I thought this was a terrific book. It is written from a child’s point of view, and has received many comparisons with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. However, while I found The Curious Incident over-rated and irritating, I thought this was really well written.
The narrator is 9 year old Harry Pickles, who talks about the summer that his nearly 5 year old brother Daniel went missing. Harry describes the effect that the loss had on his parents, himself, and others around him, showing how people find it hard to know what to say, and demonstrating the breakdown of normal family life. It is surprisingly funny at times, but also dreadfully sad. I cannot begin to imagine the pain that any family in this situation must go through, but I was moved to tears reading this.
The characterisation is brilliant – Harry is a believable boy, and his struggle with life after the disappearance of Daniel, and his view of his family which is falling apart, is entirely believable and very eloquently described. I felt that the whole family were very well drawn, and their reactions to the tragedy was extremely well described.
The writing was elegant and rather lovely, and I did not want to put the book down.
Incredibly well written, moving and touching. A must-read.
(Author’s website can be found here.)
Between the Pages 
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