Drifters

Kevin Emerson's Drifters is an eerie science fiction mystery for 10 year olds about a girl who won't stop looking for the best friend everyone else seems to be forgetting.

What happens

Jovie's friend Micah vanished in September. By January the search has been called off, the news has moved on and even the posters at school keep getting taken down. So every morning before school Jovie cycles round Far Haven in the dark, taping up new ones.

The odd thing is that people aren't just losing interest. They're forgetting. Jovie mentions Micah to her mum and gets a blank look. "Who?"

Far Haven is a sad, rainy little town on the Washington coast. There was an accident at the nuclear plant years ago, and a company called Barsuda has been "cleaning up" ever since, with vans and workers in black suits everywhere. Everyone trusts them. Well, nearly everyone.

The story jumps between two times. In one, it's four years later and a boy called Sylvan is being questioned about the night Jovie disappeared too. He's lying, and he's very nervous about it. In the other, we're back with Jovie, and every chapter counts down the hours to something called the Breach. That countdown really keeps the pages turning.

One thing to know first. Jovie is thirteen, and Sylvan is fourteen in the later scenes. It opens with a letter from a dying sailor whose ship was destroyed by a strange light in the sea. The police think a missing girl died in a landslide. And Jovie's home life is hard (her dad has left, money is tight and her mum drinks wine when she gets in from her night shift).

Nothing gory happens in the opening chapters, and it's written for middle-grade readers. But the loneliness and worry are very real. A younger child might find the missing-friend story upsetting, or simply feel a bit lost in it.

For a confident reader who loves a mystery with a spooky edge, though, this is gripping. Jovie's guilt about her falling-out with Micah is so real (what if it was partly her fault?) and you'll be desperate to know what the drifters are.

What to read next

If they want another small town where people keep disappearing and the grown-ups won't listen, try The Bigwoof Conspiracy. Twelve-year-old Lucy is convinced it's aliens, and she sneaks out in a thunderstorm to prove it.