Mising May by Cynthia Rylant

Rylant, C. (2004). Missing May. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks.

Missing May takes place on the farm of Uncle Ob and Aunt May. Summer and Clarence Underwood round out the list of main characters. After May's death, Summer and Ob become saturated with grief and have difficulty overcoming their loss. Clarence comes into the picture as a boy whom Ob is able to relate to. The action increases when Ob "sees" May and the search begins to find her in another life. Unfortunately, they are never able to reach her, but their relationships flourish. Ob and Summer eventually accept the death of May, Summer accepts Clarence as the boy he is, and Ob and Clarence accept things for what they are.

In this Newberry Honor Chapter book, we see Cynthia Rylant come to life and made this book a tear jerker from the start. Learning about Summer and how she was passed on from relative to relative until Uncle Ob and Aunt May took her home, is only the beginning. But throughout the book, we learn about the love Uncle Ob and Aunt May were able to give to each other, and to Summer.

Figurative Language is used throughout this book, as we learn about aunt May through Uncle Ob and Summer. And I also think Cynthia Rylant used the right words in her dialog. As I said before, I thought this books was a tear jerker after the first couple of pages. That's strong writing!