It isn't the creatures that go bump in the night that scare me, it's the living, breathing human "monsters" that get me every time, and this one certainly got me. The chills start early in Missing Piece and continue to build as the story progresses to the heart-racing conclusion. The suspense here isn't about who the killer is, although there is some mystery surrounding a couple of characters, but it's more about what this madman will do next to claim his prize. Our villain is a master at striking fear in his victims as he goes about his quite single-minded quest letting nothing and no one stand in his way. The fact that Martha is living her life, carrying out her day to day, never knowing when or where her worst fear will strike lent an added layer to the creep factor that is prevalent throughout this tale. The only drawback was the final scene with The Gamesman felt a bit rushed. The build-up for the scene was gripping and exactly what I expect from a good thriller, but the conclusion was almost too easy, especially when you consider everything he's done to achieve his goal. Other than that small blip, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would easily recommend it. We even get some romance between Martha and the troubled Ben.

The Missing Piece is another fantastic work by the author Shel Silverstein. This book is about a circle who was missing a piece, so he slowly rolled about the land looking for a piece to complete him. In this text, there is discussion of independence and belongingness. I would use this book in my classroom to begin a discussion of friendship, feelings, or even as a way to discuss finding "just-right books" for independent reading. This book has a Scholastic Reading Grade Level Equivalent of 2.5.

     I first came across this book years ago while I was scanning through the aisles of the then newly-opened PowerBooks store in Greenbelt Makati.  

     I had not read a single children's book for quite some time as my interest in them had waned already, so it was quite a surprise for me to find myself actually reading one whose cover and title caught my attention. By the third page, I was taken, much to my disbelief.

   "It was a missing piece. And it was not happy."

     Each page had only one to a few sentences and a simple hand-drawn image that could have been penned by a 3-year old. Hell, even the  sentences could have been thought up by a six year old kid. It was not the images nor the individual sentences that impressed me but rather the message behind the sentences and imagery, which I would describe a nothing short of profound, truthful, and accurate.  So profound, in fact, that to this day, I still recommend adults to read the book. 

     How impactful was the book? I was so caught up in reading it that I could not put it down, despite the fact that I was standing on a sign that read "No Private Reading".  I only paused at times to wipe the tears off my face! Even before I was done reading the book, I was already a mess.  A grown man crying in a public bookstore because of a childrens' book. lol

     The fact that the entire book had a black and white theme on every page-- something that few would dare expect to appeal to young readers; the fact that each page contained no more than one word to one sentence; and that the  images were extremely simple, made for a brilliantly thought-of piece.  Whereas TV had its "Sesame Street"; books have Shel Silverstein's masterpieces. "The Missing Piece" is one brilliant work of art.  

      I found a video of The Missing Piece in YouTube.  So if you are okay with a spoiler, go watch it.  Have a box of tissues handy.  Be ready to break down. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

     And if you think you will end up not buying the book just because a free video is available online,  I still think  that  owning a physical copy is still worth every penny. Watch the video and find out why.       

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Genre: Life / Humor / Adventure

Year Published: 1976