I wanted her to get the guy (who totally does not solve all her problems, instead she’s proactive about that). I wanted her to learn how to use a locker. I wanted her to be able to talk educated. I couldn’t help but really want everything to work out perfectly for her. I was so nervous about an eventual revelation - it was very hard to read because I was so invested.Carey is such a strong character who has been given the short end of the stick in life. I just found myself totally rooting for Carey and then dreading certain things. My heart broke into a million little pieces multiple times for teenage Carey and her little sister Jenessa, but then there were moments that stitched it back together. Ugh, you guys I can’t even be coherent about Emily Murdoch’sÂ If You Find Me. It’s a bit of an adjustment period for everyone involved.

Further, her father has remarried a woman named Melissa, who has a daughter named Delaney. He takes custody of the two girls and so they finally rejoin the modern world and must learn to do all of the things that you and I take for granted. He’s Carey’s father and she only remembers the smell of his aftershave. During one of their mother’s disappearances, a strange man shows up with a social worker in tow. To make matters worse, their mother is bipolar and addicted to meth and disappears for weeks at a time. They live in an unheated camper and without modern amenities despite being in a modern world. They are completely isolated with no contact with the outside world. In the woods, the two girls really truly know poverty. When Carey was very young, her mother whisked her and baby sister Janessa to the Thousand Acre Woods, claiming that Carey’s father was abusive.

Martin’s - at least when it comes to contemporary YA (both this book and Eleanor & Park totally impressed me). It’s one of those books that totally made me question if someone was chopping onions near by and also one that made me wonder if there’s some kind of magic over at St. Y’all, I found myself lovingÂ If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch and thinking about it while I wasn’t reading.Â If You Find Me is the harrowing tale of Carey and her sister Jenessa who have basically been raised in isolation in the Thousand Acre Woods in Tennessee. Y’all, Wendy was like hey I am doing this blog tour thing and I think you’d totally like the book. When Wendy Darling recommends a book specifically to you, you pay attention and take notes.