We Now Return to Regular Life

Gr 9 Up—Three years ago, Beth Walsh's little brother Sam went missing while out with his friend Josh. Now that Sam has been found alive, Beth is trying to cope with another upheaval, and Josh is struggling with the secrets he's been keeping for three years. Both want to help Sam move forward after the abuse he suffered, but recovery, for all three of them, is not that simple. Wilson has taken a risk in writing a novel about the return of a missing and abused child that does not focus on the victim, and the results are mixed. Beth and Josh are well-developed characters, and the narrative is well paced. However, their problems seem mostly superficial compared with Sam's trauma, and Josh's story fails to reach a conclusion. The absence of Sam's point of view means that his actions are often frustratingly unexplained or shrugged off, no matter how serious. This is particularly an issue in regard to a scene of nonconsensual sexual contact between Sam and Josh. Also, redundant references to the Walsh family's socioeconomic class don't add anything to the story.