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Michael Cadnum

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Zero at the Bone Kindle Edition

by Michael Cadnum (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3 ratings

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His sister’s disappearance threatens to tear a boy’s family apart

Cray is the first to smell smoke. It’s his 1st week on the job, working alongside his father at the family plant, and he’s afraid of making a fool of himself. So he waits on the factory floor, the machines screaming and wood chips flying. But he’s finally certain: The roof is on fire, and if the blaze isn’t put out, the factory could explode.

Cray calls the fire department and races through the building telling the workers to flee. He’s amazed by how calm they are. The fire is extinguished, and life slowly returns to normal. But the true crisis is just around the corner. When Cray’s sister disappears and the police search reveals no trace of her, he discovers fear affects everyone differently—and it’s not always smart to stay calm.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After spending seven chapters articulating the conflicts and relationships of high-school senior Cray Buchanan, Cadman (Taking It; Breaking the Fall) zaps readers with a sudden crisis: the inexplicable disappearance of Cray's older sister, Anita. Tension mounts rapidly as the protagonist, along with his parents and the police, traces frustratingly vague clues taken from fragments of conversations and excerpts from Anita's diary. As this riveting novel progresses, the tragedy unravels the fabric of family life. The personalities of characters undergo subtle changes: Mrs. Buchanan, an archeologist, puts on a stoic front, Cray's father, a factory owner, becomes somewhat fanatic in his behavior and Cray begins to be more open and honest about his feelings. Although the mystery remains unsolved, as in Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Year Without Michael, the final scene, set at the family's lakeside cabin, affords a type of closure. Fans of intense psychological dramas can expect to be emotionally drained by the time they reach the last chapter. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10?Cray Buchanan, high school senior, narrates this taut, waking nightmare of contemporary American life. When his 18-year-old sister Anita fails to come home from work one night, all normal, daily events and problems abruptly lose importance. Cray's fleeting hopes of becoming the varsity quarterback and a fire at his father's furniture factory fade into obscurity. Days stretch out in a litany of tension and futility?police interviews, searching dumpsters and alleys, and MISSING posters. Poignant scenes unfold as Cray invades the sanctity of his sister's room and diary to uncover clues to her disappearance. Cadnum's character portrayals resonate. Torn between grief and anger, the family tries to make sense out of the senseless. The mother, a practical scientist, retreats into her study and her research, with periodic raids on the refrigerator, all the while preparing for the worst. The father clings to the optimistic high ground, leaving no person or organization untapped, and passes his days in a frenzy of activity, but no resolution is in sight at novel's end. Cray delves deep into his sister's secret self, a direct contrast to his earlier inattention. His regret over not knowing her better allows him to reevaluate his friends and family. Exquisite descriptions cruelly juxtapose the unbearable open ending, leaving each reader with "zero at the bone."?Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville War Memorial High School, NJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 8^-12. At first neither Cray nor his parents are overly concerned when his older sister, Anita, isn't home from work on time. The intelligent, recent high-school graduate has always been independent, resourceful, and unpredictable. But when she doesn't show up, the family checks with her friends, employer, and finally the police. Months go by, and Anita fails to surface until a body meeting her general description lies in the city morgue. Cray, his workaholic father, and scholarly mother are portrayed sympathetically as they move from anger and frustration to fear and despair. With the very first sentence, "I smelled fire," Cadnum sets an ominous tone that builds as the story flows. On the surface, life seems very ordinary as narrator Cray notes "dried-on white freckles" on plates from the dishwasher, and the ritual of senior class photos. Below the commonplace veneer lie violent elements, such as dangers at the family furniture factory, a friend's accident with a gun, and even quarterback Cray's serious concussion from a vicious tackle. Taut, tense, and tightly plotted, this intimate portrayal of a contemporary nightmare is much more frightening than a generic horror tale. Linda Perkins

From Kirkus Reviews

A teenage daughter's disappearance hits a North Oakland family hard in this bitter story from the author of Taking It (1995). Cray Buchanan belongs to a family of industrious, upscale, strong-minded winners. On the same day, he prevents a disaster at his father's factory and is invited to play quarterback on his high school football team. His mother is a respected paleontologist and his father is a successful businessman and active participant in a variety of causes. All their assets, all their competence, turn to ashes when Clay's sister, Anita, doesn't come home one day. With characteristic energy, the Buchanans spring into action, making phone calls, enlisting aid, distributing flyers, all to no avail, until their hopes begin to drain. Cray describes the ensuing changes in himself and his parents in a slightly detached tone that makes the plot's grimmer moments--rummaging through dumpsters, rushing to the morgue when police find a partially decomposed body (not Anita's, as it turns out)--even more heartrending. Was she kidnapped, or did she leave on her own? Cadnum doesn't tell, though a few cryptic lines in Anita's diary hint at a secret in her life. In the end, there is no end: no explanations, no leads, no Anita. As is true of the family in Susan Beth Pfeffer's The Year Without Michael (1987)--just as moving but without Cadnum's grit--Cray and his parents can only go on, nursing wounds that are already beginning to scar. A painful subject, mercilessly explored. (Fiction. 12-18) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review

Cray's older sister doesn't come home from work one day, and Cray and his family find themselves involved in a haunting search which probes not only her last movements, but any secrets which she might have hidden from them. Cray finds his entire life changed by her disappearance in Cadnum's haunting story, recommended for older YAs. -- Midwest Book Review

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B013S4364Q
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Teen & Tween (September 29, 2015)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 29, 2015
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1.5 MB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 189 pages

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Michael Cadnum

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Michael Cadnum is the author of nearly forty books, including the National Book Award finalist The Book of the Lion. A two-time Edgar Allen Poe Award nominee, and an award-winning poet, Cadnum's work is widely acclaimed. His most recent book is Kingdom, the long-awaited collection of poetry about the creatures in the world around us.

He lives in Albany, California, across the bay from San Francisco, with his wife Sherina.

For more of the latest on Cadnum and his work visit his website www.MichaelCadnum.com

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Tami Fontaine
Tami's Review
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2002

Setting- Oakland, California neighborhood
Main Characters- Cray, brother of the missing girl, Anita; Mom-bone researcher; Dad-lumber business owner, Kyle- Anita's boyfriend; Detective Waterman.
Plot summary- Anita, Cray's sister, goes to work and doesn't come home. Cray tells of the day his sister turned missing and the days following as he struggles with trying to deal with it. He goes through the stages of denial, numbness, anger, into grief. He searches his sister's diary for clues. He hopes that she just ran away from home and is angry that she did that. He tells of how his future desires change and life because more precious, relationships deeper. His parents choose different ways to deal with their loss and the culminating scene is one in which they bring her dental records to determine if a murdered girl is Anita. It isn't, but the reality sinks in.
Author evaluation- The thoughts and actions are extremely realistic. Characterization is strong and so is the emotional progression. Extremely helpful information to develop empathy. A short read but excellently written.
Audience- Since the main character is at least 16 years old, it is recommended for 10th grade and up. Younger, but mature readers would enjoy it too. There is not much action so it is not recommended for those who like action/adventure.

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L. Hoppough
Pretty Bad
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2009
I'm sorry, but I thought this book was bad. Approaching awful. The premise was interesting enough--a boy's sister goes missing, and it (as it always does) affects his family. But the truth is that the whole thing--plot, dialogue, character--was tedious. All of it.
The family made assumption based on nothing, and although the grief they were going through seemed true and thought-out, in the end it became a simple game of repetition and whininess. And though I wasn't going in expecting the book to end all happily ever after, I WAS wanting at least the tiniest bit of it to be resolved; but no. The book ended abrubtly and with questions unanswered.
In the end: two stars. It was bad, but the concept was good and the sadness was portrayed well enough.

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Zero at the Bone Kindle Edition

Editorial Reviews

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Michael Cadnum

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4.0 out of 5 stars Tami's Review

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