15. The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy

read on my iPhone
2017, HMH Books for Young Readers
388 pgs.
YA Dystopia/ 1942 America
Finished 2/5/2018
Goodreads rating: 4.13 - 1609 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  1942 Sterling, an east coast American community

First line/s:  "I want something of hers.  There's a teacup downstairs, the last one she used before she died."

My comments:  This is one of those books that just keeps getting better and better as it goes along  Lots of fantasy mixed with mystery and a lovely, small-town 1942 setting.  There was one major thing that was a little too unbelievable to make this five-worthy, and I will write it here invisibly because it is definitely the biggest spoiler of the book:
How are we to believe that Shakespeare's bones were stolen from England and brought to the United States?  There's nothing in Steffen's stories to even hint at this that I can remember...if the book was set in England it would be so much more believable.  Also, some of the variants -- magic potions -- made sense, but the hows and whys behind the invention of others were really unclear and frustrating.
      This was a clever book with a few flaws, an enjoyable read, and recommended.

Goodreads synopsis: What if the ordinary things in life suddenly…disappeared?
          Aila Quinn’s mother, Juliet, has always been a mystery: vibrant yet guarded, she keeps her secrets beyond Aila’s reach. When Juliet dies, Aila and her younger brother Miles are sent to live in Sterling, a rural town far from home--and the place where Juliet grew up.
          Sterling is a place with mysteries of its own. A place where the experiences that weave life together--scents of flowers and food, reflections from mirrors and lakes, even the ability to dream--vanish every seven years.
          No one knows what caused these “Disappearances,” or what will slip away next. But Sterling always suspected that Juliet Quinn was somehow responsible--and Aila must bear the brunt of their blame while she follows the chain of literary clues her mother left behind.
          As the next Disappearance nears, Aila begins to unravel the dual mystery of why the Disappearances happen and who her mother truly was. One thing is clear: Sterling isn’t going to hold on to anyone's secrets for long before it starts giving them up.