A Girl Named Anna by Lizzy Barber is a suspenseful story of two teen girls, Anna who lives a very sheltered religious life with just her mother and Rosie who's family is enmeshed in the disappearance of her elder sister Emily.
Anna has always wondered why her mother never lets her go to Astroland. She flat out refuses to let Anna go to many places. She is all about cleanliness and godliness. Anna has a boyfriend William, and he convinces her that yes she can go, she is 18 after all. Once there Anna experiences a weird thing, it is almost a Deja Vu feeling that she has been there before.
Rosie and her family have suffered the disappearance of Emily at Astroland, it has pulled at the fabric of her parent's marriage, their daily lives. Every year they are interviewed by the media, the same questions every year. The family has no clue as to what happened to three-year-old Emily, only that it is been 15 years and still no clue. Rosie is determined though to find out the truth. The funds that are for the search for Emily have virtually dried up and hope is running out.
This book was a story of two families tied together with the disappearance of one little girl. The character of Anna's mom was pretty strange. The reader comes to find out later in the book that she was involved in a religious cult. Anna, on the other hand, is a meek girl, living with her mother's fear.
The concept of Emily's abduction was kind of scary but a very real thing, but who did it, why and what happened to Emily. Alternating chapters tell the story of the two girls and how they are entwined. Can Rosie find out what happened to her sister before her family is further torn apart? The story started out a bit slow but as I read, it became more exciting and I could not put it down. I read it in two sittings!
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