They Never Came Back

January 11, 2010
A forgotten scandal surfaces when 15-year-old Cathy Ferris, who’s taking an intensive summer Latin class in Greenwich, Conn., is accused by another student, Tommy, of being his long-lost cousin, Murielle Lyman. Murielle’s parents embezzled millions of dollars and fled the country without their daughter five years earlier, affecting several people in the community. This includes the families of several of Cathy’s classmates, who are all left wondering—is Cathy really Murielle? Cathy keeps the answer secret (though not from readers), but she’s left with some big questions and choices regardless: her resemblance to Murielle has attracted the attention of the FBI, which hopes to use her to ensnare the Lymans. Cooney’s (The Face on the Milk Carton
) tightly constructed thriller teems with suspense and has a touch of romance. The third-person narration initially switches between Cathy and 10-year-old Murielle, who is coping with her parents’ flight, but like the story itself, it evolves and grows in complexity. Through a large cast of convincing characters, Cooney expertly plumbs the lingering emotional aftereffects of the Lymans’ actions, raising difficult questions about family, loyalty, and self. Ages 12–up.

January 1, 2010
Gr 6-10-Five years ago, 10-year-old Murielle Lyman's wealthy mother and father fled the country after being accused of embezzlement, and their plans to take her with them fell through. Now 15, going by the name Cathy Ferris and living with a kind foster family, she starts summer school in her old tony hometown of Greenwich, CT, hoping to get news of her parents and possibly reconnect with her extended family. But she never expected that her cousin Tommy would recognize her, or that the FBI agent assigned to their case would reappear and want to use her as bait to catch her parents. Cooney has crafted another thriller with a lot of appeal. With chapters alternating between Murielle's past and Cathy's present, readers will speed through the pages. The book couldn't be more relevant in light of the Bernie Madoff scandal; Cooney's adaptation of a complex fraud story for this age group is interesting if one can look beyond some weaknesses. For example, Cathy's classmates at times come across as unrealistically invested in the possibility of Cathy being Murielle. This book will appeal to the same crowd that's been reading Cooney's reluctant-reader-friendly titles for years."Jennifer Barnes, Homewood Library, IL"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2009
Grades 6-9 Cooneys latest novel offers intrigue but isnt quite up to the bar set by many of her previous novels. Fifteen-year-old Cathy Ferris is studying at a summer language program in Greenwich, Connecticut. During lunch hour, a boy in the program mistakes Cathy for his cousin, Murielle Lyman. Five years ago, the Lymans fled the country after stealing millions from their clients, leaving their 10-year-old daughter in foster care. Cathys classmatesincluding a girl whose mother was imprisoned because of the embezzlementget caught up in the scandal. While the FBI plans to use Cathy to trap the Lymans, and her classmates attempt to sleuth out the real Murielle, Cathy wrestles with her own identity and betrayal. The mystery surrounding Murielles identity is intriguing, and readers will wonder if the evasive Lymans will ever turn up. While this novel fails to deliver the action of Code Orange (2005) or the drama of the incredibly popular Face on the Milk Carton (1990), it is an accessible read for reluctant readers, if not quite a must for devotees of suspenseful thrillers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2010
Cathy's summer-school classmate, Tommy, questions her identity. Alternating chapters slowly confirm that Cathy is indeed Tommy's cousin Murielle, whose parents fled the country in an embezzlement scandal five years ago, leaving her with social services. Once readers suspend disbelief about the short time-frame they'll be gripped by the topical story.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)