Missing U

Twelve-year-old Anne's vision of a perfect summer by the pool with friends implodes as her father's fist crashes through the kitchen wall. It's the Great Recession of 2008, and Anne's father has lost his job, his sobriety, and now, his temper. To pay her sister's preschool tuition, Anne must work on her widowed grandfather's small farm 100 miles from home. Left alone with a sad old man and his half-wild dog in Montana's Crazy Mountains, Anne feels abandoned, angry, and very worried. Her family doesn't call or visit, there's no internet, no cell service, and no way to get home! Weeks pass and Anne's natural ability to find fun leads to new friends and adventure until a phone call with her weeping little sister changes everything. She must get home, even if no one will help! Anne eyes the nearby Yellowstone River. Won't that get her practically to her doorstep?

The middle grade novel, Missing U, is about the connections that ground us, the love between siblings and family and friends, and Anne's growing awareness of our connection to the earth. In Missing U, 12-year-old Anne's 100-mile separation from her friends and family, particularly from her young sister, and from parents who she fears are moving toward divorce, becomes impossibly difficult, to the point where Anne takes a daring risk to reconnect with them. Despite her worries, the fierce dog she must tame, and the exhausting farm work, Anne's story is a fun ride filled with love and humor, friendship and adventure, and deep family values. Her summer at a farm immerses readers in a rural experience they will remember and a story they will love.