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A slow-moving plot to begin the story might turn some readers away from Norwood's tantalizing phantom mystery. Most, however, will be curious enough to dig a little deeper. Vanished from Dust is one that readers of all ages can enjoy because everyone, at one point or another, has been a child. The story resonates with everyone and will rekindle a fond memory that the reader may have not tapped into in years.
Aside from nostalgia, this narrative revolves around the friendship of Eric "crazy train" Stark and Kyle Barrett, who defends Eric from Greg Coffey and Adam Marshall, their seventh grade classmates, and your typical bullies. From sleepovers and pranking neighbors to visiting haunted theaters late at night, Eric and Kyle's friendship is memorable. However, just when the audience settles in and is convinced this is a story simply about friendship and perhaps how two friends overcome their bullies, Norwood delves into the "crazy-train" element of the story. At eight, Eric was able to see something that no one else could. Whether that was a figment of his imagination or reality, it didn't matter because he opened his mouth and told people what he had seen. Instead of believing him, the result was needless visits to the shrink and the ensuing "crazy-train" monicker. A town drunkard, Bop, warns him that he can see them too. A girl, Kara, has been missing from the town for years, going into the theater and never coming out.
Eric's thirst for answers and his desire to prove he isn't crazy seems to supersede the fear that normal seventh graders would have at the sight of red-eyed, seemingly cold-blooded phantoms that call you their "servator." The outcome of Eric's curiosity is a life-changing, world-changing sequence of events that has the two friends clamoring for their old life and old world back. Awkward conversations with a crush, school bullies, wild phantom-filled imaginations—and realities—and above all, blood-brothers who value their friendship more than anything else make this an enjoyable read.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review