What if your revenge fantasy became real?
Title: You Must Not Miss
Author: Katrina Leno
ISBN: 978-0275948085
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 2019
Genre(s): Horror
Available format(s): Print, audio. I reviewed the print version.
Reading level/interest level: Age 14 and up, according to Amazon
Summary: One by one, Magpie Lewis has been abandoned by her family members — her father has a cheating problem, her mother a drinking one, and her sister Eryn has run away. At school, too, Magpie is profoundly alone, on the receiving end of the silent treatment from her ex-best friend and taunts from bullies. She has survived a sexual assault, and developed an eating disorder.
She copes with her intense loneliness and trauma by writing about “Near,” a fantastical world that is an escape from her own horrifying life, and a place where she finally has the strength to fight back. But she writes about Near so assuredly that it seems to become real, accessible to Magpie in her own backyard. And as Near and the real world converge, Magpie discovers that she can inflict revenge on those who've wronged her.
About the author: Born on the East Coast, Katrina Leno (she/her) now lives on the West Coast, and both locales have been settings in her seven YA novels, all of which feature an element of magical realism (Leno, n.d.). Her debut middle-grade, a fantasy titled The Umbrella Maker’s Son, was published this past June.
Critical review: Whoa! Like the nursery rhyme that inspired the title (“One for Sorrow”), this book gives me the chills. I’ve read other titles by Leno, including Summer of Salt and Sometime in Summer, which introduce some heavier topics but maintain an atmosphere that is ethereal, cozy, and dreamy, at least overall. This one, though, is not dreamy but nightmarish!
It keeps readers questioning Magpie’s reality and mental well-being, as well as wondering to themselves whether anger and violence can effectively help young people cope with traumatic situations, or if other solutions are necessary.
Related programming ideas: Magpie’s use of writing as a coping strategy perhaps goes a little too far because she doesn’t have any other options, but I still think real teens can also learn how to use writing to express their emotions, if only to themselves. I am envisioning a writing program focused on self-care that introduces writing prompts to help teens reflect on their current challenges.
Brief booktalk: What if your revenge fantasy became real? At first, Magpie Lewis creates the imaginary world of Near to escape the enormous hurt others have caused her by abandoning, assaulting, and bullying her… but she soon discovers that she can use it to hurt them back. Read this if you’re not afraid of the dark and weird, and then the darker and just plain weirder.
Potential challenges: Carrie by Stephen King, an older but comparable title to You Must Not Miss, has been banned in several states due to its inclusion of violence, profanity, and sex (Gampe, 2016). In addition, You Must Not Miss also depicts infidelity, sexual assault, familial abandonment, disordered eating, and substance abuse, and could be challenged by caregivers reluctant to have teens encounter these mature topics.
Reason for inclusion: Although I do not read much horror myself, I needed to be sure to include it to develop a well-balanced collection and appreciate that the true horrors in this book are not gratuitous violence or supernatural creatures or but are the fact real-life horrors experienced by teens.
References:
Gampe, H. (2016, September 29). Banned book week review: Carrie by Stephen King. The Eagle Eye News. https://tyroneeagleeyenews.com/banned-book-week-book-review-carrie-by-stephen-king/#:~:text=Because%20of%20Carrie's%20violence,can't%20stop%20reading%20it.
Leno, K. (n.d.). Oh look it’s me. https://www.katrinaleno.com/about
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