The Shape of Lost Things

Skye, 12, has much to deal with. Four years before the story begins and after her physicist parents divorce, her father kidnapped her brother, Finn. Since then Skye and her mother have tried to maintain normalcy in the face of their grief. Once a year, they celebrate Finn’s MIA birthday and Skye acts as photographer. Life changes dramatically when Roger, her mother’s boyfriend, tells Skye he plans to propose marriage to her mother. On the same momentous day, 14-year-old Finn is found wandering on the highway. But for Skye, he is not the person she remembers, nor does he appear to remember important things they once shared.

The Shape of Lost Things is a moving, beautifully written novel, told in the first person by Skye as she attempts to rationalize the burden of many fears and doubts she feels unable to share. She wrestles with changing circumstances around her mother’s forthcoming marriage and changing alliances of school friends. The continual focus on Finn, before and after his return, raises questions about her value in the family and her own self worth. Most of all, she cannot reconcile the new 14-year-old Finn with the brother she loved and lost four years before. She attempts to make sense of her life with her polaroid camera and with regular meetings with a psychiatrist.

Every character, is honestly portrayed, revealing their strengths and weaknesses. Finn is hurt and wrestling with many demons that Skye cannot possibly understand. Their mother breezily trots out her daily science facts every day, and Roger, supportive and caring, tries not to usurp their father’s role. Even their absent father is clearly represented. Skye’s confusion and tangled emotions of loss, grief and change are totally realistic.
The language is lyrical and the plot fast paced enough that the reader’s interest never wavers. Realistically, the reader is left wishing more was known about Finn’s experiences during his absence and also whether their father will find the psychiatric help he needs. The Shape of Lost Things is an emotionally taut and sensitively handled story about love and tensions within a family. Readers will recognize their own struggles with their changing identity. A great addition to public and school libraries!!