If You Find Me

IF YOU FIND ME by Emily Murdoch. St. Martins Griffin, 2013.

Carey and Jenessa have only known the rusted camper as home for almost as long as either of them can recall. Carey knows that they ran away from their father a long time ago. Mom wanted to keep them off the grid for their own protection, and so they live in the woods without electricity or running water. Somehow they manage. But now Mom has been gone for an awfully long time, and the food is running short. Carey worries about Jenessa who rarely speaks, How will they survive?

Suddenly, there is a man approaching the camper accompanied by a woman from social services. Carey and Jenessa are to be handed over to Carey's father who has been searching for them ever since Carey's mother abducted her when she was little. Now, they have a father (one Carey is not sure she can trust) and a stepmother and stepsister, too. There will be many changes hurtling toward Carey as the truth is slowly revealed. Great pacing, realistic characters and emotions will draw readers in and hold them to the final page.