Missing May- Realistic Fiction; Chapter Book

Missing May

by Cynthia Rylant

The opening for, Missing May, “When May died,” absolutely grabs the attention of the reader and immediately sets the tone for the novel. The author, Cynthia Rylant, creates, in my opinion, brilliant character names, such as: Summer, Ob, May and Cletus, that do a great job of depicting the setting that the characters live in. The struggles that the characters face make them easy to relate to, and could greatly help a child who may be going through the loss of a loved one. Although the piece of literature is witty, and at times upbeat, it is overall a novel that tells the tragedy of loving a loved one.

The main character, Summer, was orphaned and living with distant relatives when she was six years old, until custody was given to her elderly aunt and uncle that lived in West Virginia, Ob and May, who visited the family she was staying with and decided to adopt her. Summer was twelve years old when her Aunt May died. Summer was amazed at the bond and love that her aunt and uncle had for her, and is frightened by Uncle Ob’s reaction and methods of mourning. When Uncle Ob sensed contact from May, Summer was willing to do whatever she thought may help him with his grief, despite her true feelings about the methods, such as religious ceremonies.

The way the novel fosters the grief that Summer was burdened with is amazing. Summer mother passing is described so beautifully by the twelve year old that I felt as it that if I could have her way of thinking, I could mourn less emotionally with losses of loved ones. I was stunned at the fact that a children’s book could invoke feelings that strongly in an adult. I loved the descriptions of the characters and could easily visualize the stringy, greasy hair in Cletus’s face. I was scared to think to strongly of Ob due to his frail appearance and his broken heart. I felt as if I personally entered the home of Cletus’s parents and I felt like I entered carefully, scared to accidentally bump into or touch anything because of the fragility of his aged parents.

The novel surprisingly made me feel such emotion. I was enticed from the first word to the last, and could not put the book down until I had finished it in its entirety. I had to continually remind myself that it was a children’s novel, rather than an adult’s.