Module 3: Missing May

Module 3: Missing May

Book Summary:

When Summer's mother passed away, she was passed from family member to family member who didn't want to keep her. Finally May and OB visited her and took her home the very same day. For six years, they lived in bliss in their small trailer in West Virginia until the day May passed away. Daily life for Ob and Summer becomes a struggle as they attempt to figure out how to go on after their tragic loss. Surprisingly, it is the annoying boy from Summer's seventh grade class that provides them with a possible solution to their problem and wiggles his way into their daily lives. A road trip provides them with answers, but not the ones they were expecting. Arriving home, Summer sees an owl and is reminded of a similar experience with May. This is the trigger that releases the grief she has been holding back. As Ob and Summer accept their grief, they begin to rebuild their lives remembering May fondly rather than continuing to grieve her loss.

APA Reference of Book:

Rylant, Cynthia. (2002). Missing May. New York, NY: Orchard Books.

Impressions:

In the most simple of explanations, Missing May is a story about grief. Summer has known grief before so it doesn't surprise her when it comes around again. She is able to at least go through the motions of life when May but not so for Uncle Ob. He begins to almost fade away. He usually woke up early everyday and he oversleeps one morning, which really signals to both himself and Summer that he has given up. Summer is resigned to the fact that she is going to lose Ob too. "I had been dreading Ob's death for so long that in my mind I practically had the coffin picked out and which tie he'd wear."

Rylant does an excellent job expressing the raw emotions and feelings of grief. It is told in a way that anyone can relate to, child or adult. Grief is not static, it is a process that Rylant uses Summer to explain in the most simple of terms, relating to other feelings and experiences for those who haven't encountered it. Not only does Rylant chronicle the process, but she shows how coping mechanisms can vary from person to person and that the grief process is never over. Missing May is a great way to approach the topics of love, grief and coping with loss but not only that, it is story anyone of any age can enjoy and let tug on their heartstrings.

Professional Review:

A gifted writer returns to one of her favorite themes--love- -in this case, as it can inform and transform grief. After her mother's death, Summer was handed from one unwilling relative to another, ``treated like a homework assignment somebody was always having to do.'' At six, she was taken in by an elderly uncle and aunt. Ob had a game leg (WW II) and enjoyed creating unusual whirligigs; May liked gardening behind their West Virginia trailer. They loved each other with a deep and abiding love, wholeheartedly including Summer. Now, six years later, May has died. In a poetic, ruminative narrative, Summer recounts Ob's mounting depression, his growing conviction that May is still present, and their expedition to find ``Miriam B. Conklin: Small Medium at Large.'' Meanwhile, they've been befriended by Cletus, an odd, bright boy in Summer's class; she doesn't especially value his company, but is intrigued by his vocabulary (``surreal''; ``Renaissance Man'') and his offhand characterization of her as a writer. The quest seems to fail- -Reverend Conklin has died--but on the way home Ob finally puts aside his grief to take the two young people to the state capitol as promised: ``Right out of the blue, he wanted to live again.'' Rylant reveals a great deal about her four characters, deftly dropping telling details from the past into her quiet story--including a glimpse of Summer, as seen by a girl in her class, ``like some sad welfare case,'' a description the reader who has read her thoughts will know to be gloriously untrue. A beautifully written, life-affirming book. (Fiction. 11+)

Missing May (2010). [Review of the book Missing May, by C. Rylant]. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from: http://www.kirkusreviews.com

Library Uses:

Include the book on a suggested reading list of difficult topics (ie death, grief) for children.

Use the book in a middle school reading club. Ask members to bring in their own artistic interpretations of Ob's whirligig themes (fire, Spring, light, etc.)