Sorry You’re Lost

Blackstone, Matt.  Sorry You’re Lost.  Macmillan/Farrar Strauss  2014  312p  $15.99  ISBN 978-0-374-38065-6 ms    Realistic fiction  VG

Seventh grader Denny Murphy has lost his mother to cancer, and he misses her deeply.  He becomes the class clown, nicknamed “Donuts” by his quirky best friend Manny.  His goofiness makes him and others forget about the sadness caused by his mother’s illness and passing.  When his Manny suggests starting a candy fundraiser to finance asking and then taking an eighth-grade girl to the seventh-grade dance in a stylish mode of transportation, Denny is completely in. This plan serves as a further distraction from his feelings, as he tries to deal with his emotionally disconnected father, who is becoming increasingly obese.

The story is well written and humorous.  The antics undertaken by Manny and Donuts leave the reader laughing out loud at points. The reader will make emotional connections with the characters and share in their feelings of sadness and despair as well.  The explanation of the clever book title is revealed and used throughout.  In this moving novel, Matt Blackstone has combined careful plotting, repetition of dialogue, and humor to accurately portray typical middle-school boys’ ideas and feelings.

Summary: When seventh grader Denny Murphy’s mother dies, he takes on the nickname “Donuts” and becomes the class clown in an attempt to make himself, as well as those around him, believe that he is fine.  He teams up with his best friend Manny to start a fundraiser to finance taking a girl to the dance in style.
                 

Death-Fiction, Humor-Fiction                    --Virginia McGarvey