• Age: 12 to 15
• Grade: 7 to 10

Chris Ramsay is living a normal, quiet existence in a quiet suburb in Dallas. He lives alone with his controlling father, in a home with bare walls. There's no family photos. It's all routine. Predictable.

Then one evening Chris turns on the TV. There, suddenly before him, he sees a photo of a little kid on Santa's knee, a kid who's missing and whose computer-aged face is an exact duplicate of Chris's. A kid stolen from his mother 13 years ago, a kid who has disappeared from his home in Kingston, Ontario.

Travelling by bus, meeting strangers, assuming a new identity to escape detection by his father, grabbing opportunities as they are available, Chris makes his way home. And when he finds himself almost there . . . it's not over.

Kathryn Ellis has written TV scripts for Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi High and is author of two Degrassi novels, Maya and Joey Jeremiah.

Kathryn Ellis' profile page

"Ellis is definitely in tune with teenage boys. She flawlessly takes the reader through Chris Ramsey's discovery that he is one of the "missing children" profiled on television, his plan to escape and his flight to Canada. By presenting the story through Chris's eyes, Ellis draws the reader into the world of a confused and distressed, but determined teenager... This is one of the best young adult novels that I have read recently. It is not a high literary work, but it is a good read and would be a great addition to public and junior high school libraries.
Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars"
— The Deakin Review of Children's Literature

"The book is an engaging story that will keep readers wondering about the protagonist's fate. . . Readers will be immersed in Chris's experiences and his conflicting emotions towards his father, mother, and the people he meets. As the novel progresses, Ellis does well in portraying Chris's emotional turmoil and in conveying his vacillating emotions during different stages of the trip."
Recommended.
— CM Magazine