The Night I Disappeared

HELD HOSTAGE BY AN INNER WORLD Something scary is happening to seventeen-year-old Jamie Tessman. Ever since she and her mother arrived in Chicago, she's been plagued by freaky mind-slips and vivid daydreams about her sort-of boyfriend, Webb. When Jamie's inner world starts taking her hostage and keeping her imprisoned for longer periods of time, she becomes terrified that she is slowly losing her mind. Jamie's mom doesn't seem to notice anything is wrong. No one does -- until Jamie meets Morgan, a new friend who's had her own "brush with nuttiness." When Jamie disappears into her inner world one night and can't find her way out, Morgan sees to it that Jamie finally gets help. Morgan's aunt, a psychiatrist, breaks through Jamie's paralyzing fear and helps her unravel a tangle of long-forgotten, horrifying secrets in her past....

Julie Reece Deaver grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author of several novels, including Say Goodnight, Gracie, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, which introduced two of the characters featured in The Night I Disappeared. Deaver has worked as a teacher's aide in special education and started her writing career in television comedy. She is an artist as well as a writer; her illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Reader's Digest, and The Chicago Tribune. She lives on the Monterey Peninsula in California with her blue-eyed cat, Lincoln Rhyme. Readers are welcome to contact her at JulieDeaver@aol.com.