ALEX Award lists

Semple, M. (2012). Where'd you go, Bernadette: A novel. New York: Little, Brown and Company.  The story revolves around a 15 year old girl named Bee in her attempt to find her missing mother, Bernadette Fox.  Author describes Bernadette as a very awkward person.  Although once a very smart woman, after a tragic event she is forced to move and live in isolation from the world.  Her daughter, after much struggles to be conceived, is asking for a family trip (in hopes to unite her family).  Her father is a workaholic and brilliant Microsoft worker, so to Bee, this would provide a great opportunity to unite her family.  As the story progresses, Bee has aced her report card and now the family trip is set.  Her mother appears responsive and begins to plan for the trip and then suddenly, she goes missing.  The story begins to unfold as Bee finds clues to get to her mother: through emails, letters, and FBI documents, Bee begins to learn more about her family.  The author does a great job at depicting her mother as strange.  However, you begin to sympathize when you learn of her experiences and the life surrounding her. This is a great book that lends itself to mysteries and finding clues to make reasonable predications on her whereabouts along with her motives.  My recommendation for this book is for students 14-18 years old.   Criteria: A mixture of plot, conflict and characters allow the storyline to stem out.  You your first introduced to the peculiar behavior of Bernadette, but gradually you begin realizing there was a conflict within, allowing the plot to have a rise and a fall at the end of the book.