Review – Missing Okalee by Laura Ojeda Melchor @lauraomelchor #newrelease #middlegrade #death #dying
Synopsis
When compared to her nearly perfect little sister, Phoebe Paz Petersen feels she doesn’t measure up in her parents’ eyes. Okalee is smart and beloved for her sunny disposition, but if Phoebe can get picked for the coveted solo in the school choir, she’ll stop being a middle-school nobody and finally get her chance to shine.
The sisters have one very special, secret tradition: River Day—when they hold hands and make their way across the cold, rushing Grayling River to celebrate the first hint of spring. This year’s River Day crossing, however, goes horribly wrong, and Phoebe’s world is suddenly turned upside down.
Heartbroken and facing life without Okalee, Phoebe is more determined than ever to sing the solo in the school concert as a way of speaking to her sister one last time. But Phoebe’s so traumatized by what happened, she’s lost her beautiful singing voice.
Kat Waters wants the solo for herself and is spreading a terrible rumor about what really happened to Okalee on River Day. If Phoebe tells the truth, she fears her family will never forgive her and she may never get to sing her goodbye to Okalee
Missing Okalee is an empathy-building novel about the unbreakable bond between sisters and finding the courage to do what’s right amid heartbreak and tragedy.
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Review
This book is aimed at middle-grade readers but as a warning, the book deals with death, guilt, grief, bullying, and other heavy topics.
Phoebe and Okalee are close sisters and while they might fight or argue on occasion, they are a strong support system for each other. That is until River Day and Okalee dies in the river. What follows is Phoebe’s attempt to deal with what happened that day and the guilt she feels about the situation.
The story is heavy and my heart breaks for Phoebe and everything she has to deal with including a bully that spreads rumors and has Phoebe questioning what really happened that day. Did the events occur as she remembered? Did someone see what happened? We also see how the death of her sister impacts her parents, especially her mother who spirals down into depression.
I like how Phoebe does realize that she needs to talk to someone about the situation and talks to the school counselor. It reminds us that we cannot bottle all of our emotions up and sometimes talking to someone else helps us through a tragedy or to sort things out in our head. The guilt has also impacted Phoebe’s ability to sing which only delights the bully since she wants to sing the solo in the school pageant that Phoebe rightfully earned. I was disappointed that the school didn’t intervene more regarding the bullying but I am not sure how much they really knew since Phoebe doesn’t report the acts.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it brings to mind that life can be hard and that it is ok to ask for help and to grieve a loss. This may not be for everyone but would be a great book to discuss with younger children and how they might handle certain situations. We give this 5 paws up.
About the Author
LAURA OJEDA MELCHOR is from Montana and grew up in a Spanish-speaking home that celebrated her family’s Cuban culture. She is a self-described bookworm who graduated with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Alaska with her husband and son.
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Vanessa Hall is an author, musician, and homeschool graduate. Most days, she is reading, writing, or practicing the violin—or trying to find time for all three pursuits. Currently, she is working toward gaining a degree in instrumental music education. Unknown is her debut novel. Above all, she is a sinner saved and held fast by the abounding grace of Jesus Christ.
MB Dabney is an award-winning journalist whose writing has appeared in numerous local and national publications, such as Indianapolis Monthly, NUVO, Ebony magazine, Black Enterprise.com, the Indianapolis Recorder, and the Indianapolis Business Journal. A native of Indianapolis, Michael spent decades as a reporter working at Business Week magazine, United Press International and the Associated Press, the Indianapolis Star, and The Philadelphia Tribune, the nation’s oldest continuously published Black newspaper, where he won awards for editorial writing. He has co-edited two anthologies — Decades of Dirt: Murder, Mystery and Mayhem from the Crossroads of Crime; and MURDER 20/20 — and has published numerous short mystery stories, including Miss Hattie Mae’s Secret (Decades of Dirt) , Callipygian (The Fine Art of Murder), and Killing Santa Claus (Homicide for the Holidays). An Untidy Affair is his first novel.· The father of two adult daughters, Michael lives in Indianapolis with his wife, Angela.
John A. Heldt is a reference librarian and the author of the critically acclaimed Northwest Passage time-travel series. The former award-winning sportswriter and newspaper editor has loved getting subjects and verbs to agree since writing book reports on baseball heroes in grade school. A graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Iowa, he is an avid fisherman, sports fan, home brewer, and reader of thrillers and historical fiction. When not sending contemporary characters to the not-so-distant past, he weighs in on literature and life on his blog.
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