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Missing Tyler
Summer break has just begun and Kit Carlin is on her way to a funeral — to bury her twin brother. Kit has to find a way to put the broken puzzle of her life back together following Tyler’s death. She navigates through grief and family trauma by finding support in unexpected places, and in a growing understanding of what comes after life. There’s laughter and tears, summer beach time on the New Jersey shore, and the complicated “rollercoaster” of young love, jealousy, and sex. The joys and pains of Kit’s fifteenth summer lead her through a unique journey of recovery and self-discovery — and leave her changed forever.
228 pages, Paperback
Published February 27, 2017
3 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
About the author
Tamara Palmer
5 books23 followersTamara Palmer is a career and life coach, retreat leader, and at her core, a storyteller. Tamara has been guiding clients to make intentional career decisions while she’s been pursuing her life path as a writer. Tamara is the author of The Greyzone: Insights on Leading Your Career with Intention. Her fiction titles include Missing Tyler, Finding Lancelot and a short-story collection, Truncated. She lives just outside Chicago with her husband, daughter, and an assortment of pets.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 11, 2017
The book begins shortly after Kit's twin brother Tyler is killed while riding his bike. Kit reminisces about their childhood antics, most of these shared with Tyler's best friend Brandon, who is now her only source of comfort. Without her twin, Kit feels like she has lost part of herself. She also feels like she's lost her parents. Her father prefers Brandon's company to her own, while her mother is intent on getting revenge against the man who was driving the car that killed Tyler. On top of that, her dad starts staying out late and drinking, and her family is slowly falling apart. In between visits to a grief therapist, her first job, a hot crush, a new friendship, parties, drinking, and sexual encounters, Kit starts writing to her dead brother in a journal. It's going to be a long, hot summer.
This is a heartbreaking portrait of a young girl's grief for her twin and the impact his death has on the whole family. The author realistically portrays the characters, their emotions, dialogue, and interactions. This book provides a good starting point to discuss drinking, sex, and death with teenagers.
Highly recommended.
Warnings: underage drinking, sexual references, sex scenes (not overly graphic), coarse language.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (11 September): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
This is a heartbreaking portrait of a young girl's grief for her twin and the impact his death has on the whole family. The author realistically portrays the characters, their emotions, dialogue, and interactions. This book provides a good starting point to discuss drinking, sex, and death with teenagers.
Highly recommended.
Warnings: underage drinking, sexual references, sex scenes (not overly graphic), coarse language.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (11 September): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.co...
March 26, 2017
Great book! Engaging, enjoyable, and relatable characters and story.
March 25, 2017
Unimaginable. To lose a sibling let alone a twin. Missing Tyler introduces us to Kit who as a 15 year old is dealing with the tragic loss of her twin brother. Through Kit's lens we see how she has to recover the missing half of her identity and survive a summer getting to know her new self.
This was a great summer-type read that takes you away to being a 15 year old. And remember how hard it was to be a teenager. I really enjoyed it!
This was a great summer-type read that takes you away to being a 15 year old. And remember how hard it was to be a teenager. I really enjoyed it!
March 9, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Kit was so real to me; her grief, fears, and joys were genuine. I loved how the author was able to make Brandon's character deeper than many writers do in teen lit. The author also did a wonderful job of depicting a marriage in crisis, and showing that marriage is hard, especially when dealing with tragic loss -- and that there's not always a 'bad guy' when a marriage doesn't work anymore. It's a charming coming-of-age story, but also an effective tool to teach young people about death, divorce and being strong enough to make hard choices in front of their peer groups. I couldn't put the book down!
August 26, 2017
Good writing transcends genre labels and good writing pushes the readers expectations. MISSING TYLER does both. Beautifully.
Yes, this is a novel geared for the YA market. It’s main character is a fifteen year old girl, so maybe the intended reader is indeed a young adult, but I fear that is too limiting. Ms Palmer has written a compelling and fascinating story that transcends labels. In her debut novel, she writes with poise and confidence in recreating a world that may seem foreign to many of us but somehow speaks to all of us. It is set in a fictional New Jersey beach town about a girl, her growth, her struggles, her loves, her family. The story is relatable, universal, heartbreaking and hopeful. I recommend you do not miss MISSING TYLER.
Yes, this is a novel geared for the YA market. It’s main character is a fifteen year old girl, so maybe the intended reader is indeed a young adult, but I fear that is too limiting. Ms Palmer has written a compelling and fascinating story that transcends labels. In her debut novel, she writes with poise and confidence in recreating a world that may seem foreign to many of us but somehow speaks to all of us. It is set in a fictional New Jersey beach town about a girl, her growth, her struggles, her loves, her family. The story is relatable, universal, heartbreaking and hopeful. I recommend you do not miss MISSING TYLER.
September 15, 2017
Imagine a nice family occasion--a dinner at home with the family, a birthday celebration--and you get that phone call, or a knock at the door. The news is devastating: "Your son is dead." Perhaps you are a twin sister, as it Kit's situation. All of a sudden there is this immense silence, as you are suddenly thrust into a world you had no idea of before--the world of grieving and loss. This is where 15 year old Kit finds herself, along with her increasingly estranged parents, the summer before her sophomore year. Her Mom is hell bent on suing the driver of the vehicle that hit Tyler as he was riding his bicycle in the dark. Her Dad says, no way. All he wants to do is sit in the garage at all hours of the day and brood upon his loss, with or without liquid sustenance.
At home Kit (or Katrina) walks past a deserted bedroom with the closed door on a daily basis and wonders: is there life after death, has her twin Tyler been transported to another realm, or is he just dead, gone, finished. As she struggles to find answers to these questions, all of a sudden she is no longer just Kit, fun loving teenager, bumming around the beaches of New Jersey for the summer and taking on a job as a camp counselor at the local JCC. She is Kit who has experienced an immense tragedy. She is wrenched out of her ordinary life, and all of a sudden she finds a great gulf has developed between herself and other people--between how she saw herself before, and how she sees herself afterwards.
Before, she was Kit who didn't think much about dating, now she finds herself attracted to three separate boys, one her twin brother's former best friend. Which boy will she choose? Who will step forward a play that magical role as Kit's first true love? Without the twin who anchored her identity, all sorts of possibilities open up to her. Along with her romantic challenges, she confronts another pressing issue: will she be able to hold onto her relationship with both her Mom and Dad who appear to have lost the ability to be together after such a great loss, or will one of them fall by the wayside?
These questions and more unfold as master storyteller, Tamara Palmer, introduces us to the Carlin family and divulges to us their hopes, their dreams, and their sufferings.
Fair disclosure, this story was truly close to my heart. I also grew up in New Jersey and spent my summers at the shore, I also came from a mixed faith family--Jewish and Anglican-- and I also lost my little brother at the age of 16, a year older than Kit, and so I have walked her walk, enough to know how expertly Tamara Palmer has handled her subject matter.
This is ordinarily when I go into which literary agent represents Tamara Palmer and which publishing company published her book. Amazingly, and I have to say amazingly, Tamara Palmer is not represented as of this time. All I can say about that to all the literary agents out there, this is your opportunity. If I were you, I would snap her up right now!
Apparently, Ms. Palmer had two previous agents who were relatively obscure and did not have the clout to get her manuscript before any serious contenders for her work. This is unfortunate because it is a damn good book and as a book lover, I like to see the right kind of people working with it. Of course, these kinds of unfortunate situations, where outstanding authors end up being unrecognized, occur all the time. Publishing is not as easy business, as I well know!
I think some of what happened with this book is also the consequence of what happens with many women writers. If you have a job and an active family, plus a few pets, it is really hard to get focused on sitting down to write query letters to agents. I certainly get that. As I write this, and I assume some of you are aspiring writers yourselves, you will certainly appreciate what I am talking about.
The end result is that "Missing Tyler" was published on Create Space. What can I say? I'm a self published author and I've published on Create Space. I think they are great people and I've enjoyed working with them. I have particularly liked when Create Space let me design my own book from beginning to end, which they will allow you to do. It appeals to my controlling nature! At the same time, they have their own crafts people who are willing to help you in putting together the interior and exterior of your book and also get it all set for a digital version on Amazon and elsewhere.
So I do not in any way have a problem with Tamara Palmer's choice of self-publisher. I will also say that the opportunities for a self published writer to market his or her book is far more extensive than ever before. Given that you have a good product, you should be well able to succeed as an author through Create Space as you might with a more traditional publisher. On the other hand, the expertise, financial support, and credibility that a traditional publisher lends to you really doesn't hurt.
Final comments, Tamara Palmer is a well travelled individual having taken her talents from New Jersey, to Colorado, to Illinois writing busily along the way. She has a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Eastern Illinois University and runs a Career Advisement business. I understand that she has a second book on the way--and as I said, literary agents take note.
At home Kit (or Katrina) walks past a deserted bedroom with the closed door on a daily basis and wonders: is there life after death, has her twin Tyler been transported to another realm, or is he just dead, gone, finished. As she struggles to find answers to these questions, all of a sudden she is no longer just Kit, fun loving teenager, bumming around the beaches of New Jersey for the summer and taking on a job as a camp counselor at the local JCC. She is Kit who has experienced an immense tragedy. She is wrenched out of her ordinary life, and all of a sudden she finds a great gulf has developed between herself and other people--between how she saw herself before, and how she sees herself afterwards.
Before, she was Kit who didn't think much about dating, now she finds herself attracted to three separate boys, one her twin brother's former best friend. Which boy will she choose? Who will step forward a play that magical role as Kit's first true love? Without the twin who anchored her identity, all sorts of possibilities open up to her. Along with her romantic challenges, she confronts another pressing issue: will she be able to hold onto her relationship with both her Mom and Dad who appear to have lost the ability to be together after such a great loss, or will one of them fall by the wayside?
These questions and more unfold as master storyteller, Tamara Palmer, introduces us to the Carlin family and divulges to us their hopes, their dreams, and their sufferings.
Fair disclosure, this story was truly close to my heart. I also grew up in New Jersey and spent my summers at the shore, I also came from a mixed faith family--Jewish and Anglican-- and I also lost my little brother at the age of 16, a year older than Kit, and so I have walked her walk, enough to know how expertly Tamara Palmer has handled her subject matter.
This is ordinarily when I go into which literary agent represents Tamara Palmer and which publishing company published her book. Amazingly, and I have to say amazingly, Tamara Palmer is not represented as of this time. All I can say about that to all the literary agents out there, this is your opportunity. If I were you, I would snap her up right now!
Apparently, Ms. Palmer had two previous agents who were relatively obscure and did not have the clout to get her manuscript before any serious contenders for her work. This is unfortunate because it is a damn good book and as a book lover, I like to see the right kind of people working with it. Of course, these kinds of unfortunate situations, where outstanding authors end up being unrecognized, occur all the time. Publishing is not as easy business, as I well know!
I think some of what happened with this book is also the consequence of what happens with many women writers. If you have a job and an active family, plus a few pets, it is really hard to get focused on sitting down to write query letters to agents. I certainly get that. As I write this, and I assume some of you are aspiring writers yourselves, you will certainly appreciate what I am talking about.
The end result is that "Missing Tyler" was published on Create Space. What can I say? I'm a self published author and I've published on Create Space. I think they are great people and I've enjoyed working with them. I have particularly liked when Create Space let me design my own book from beginning to end, which they will allow you to do. It appeals to my controlling nature! At the same time, they have their own crafts people who are willing to help you in putting together the interior and exterior of your book and also get it all set for a digital version on Amazon and elsewhere.
So I do not in any way have a problem with Tamara Palmer's choice of self-publisher. I will also say that the opportunities for a self published writer to market his or her book is far more extensive than ever before. Given that you have a good product, you should be well able to succeed as an author through Create Space as you might with a more traditional publisher. On the other hand, the expertise, financial support, and credibility that a traditional publisher lends to you really doesn't hurt.
Final comments, Tamara Palmer is a well travelled individual having taken her talents from New Jersey, to Colorado, to Illinois writing busily along the way. She has a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Eastern Illinois University and runs a Career Advisement business. I understand that she has a second book on the way--and as I said, literary agents take note.
July 23, 2017
What a wonderful coming of age novel. This book is full of firsts, heart ache, what it means to grown up and how tragic events shape us and how we cope. This book was the perfect summer read. I truly love Tamara Palmer's writing and I cant wait to read more by her. Beautifully written, this book spins so much emotion. You will be pulled along as you reel from the grief of watching the main character go though losing her twin brother, her growing up, having to make most difficult decisions, rites of passage as a youth. This story made me remember some of the hard choices i had to make as a young adult. Beautifully heartbreaking, this is a fast read as you will not put it down. 5 stars from me.
September 14, 2019
I usually don't read YA books about teen relationships. I have in the past, when I was a middle-school English teacher, but my interests lie elsewhere. I read this novel because the author and I were both English majors and food service workers together in college. I found myself immersed in the story she created, and enjoyed every page of it. The main character is a 15-year-old girl from Jersey; the only thing I have in common with her is that I was once 15. But, Tamara Palmer can tell such a good story, using such an engaging style, that I was quickly empathizing with the protagonist, and worrying about her decisions. I look forward to more works (of any genre) from Tami. (Congratulations, Tami! You should be proud of yourself on such an excellent showing.)
June 1, 2017
One of my favorite things about this book is that even though it's a story of loss, it's still a fun read. That's not always easy to accomplish, and kudos to Tamara Palmer for writing such a compelling, important and fun-to-read book. Kit's a great character and I loved reading about her experiences with Tyler's loss and how that compared to her parents' loss as well as the larger community around her. The teen years can be tricky enough on a good day, and losing a sibling while navigating that tricky terrain could crush even the best of us. I think this book will be an important resource for years to come--for teens as well as adults.
August 31, 2017
Actual Rating: 4.5
This book is so real and genuine. I was engaged from the very first chapter as to what exactly happened. Every single word had a great impact on readers. The character of Katrina aka kit, who was also our MC was written beautifully. The flow was good too.
Only problem I had with this book was, the age of Kit was only 15 and so was of Brandon, Tyelr etc. So whenever comes an intimate scene or something like that, my mind would imagine kids playing around. I don't know how kids grows in western countries but from where I'm it's a little too much. If it was fantasy it wouldn't have minded me. But, well they're just my opinions.
This book is so real and genuine. I was engaged from the very first chapter as to what exactly happened. Every single word had a great impact on readers. The character of Katrina aka kit, who was also our MC was written beautifully. The flow was good too.
Only problem I had with this book was, the age of Kit was only 15 and so was of Brandon, Tyelr etc. So whenever comes an intimate scene or something like that, my mind would imagine kids playing around. I don't know how kids grows in western countries but from where I'm it's a little too much. If it was fantasy it wouldn't have minded me. But, well they're just my opinions.
October 29, 2020
I loved this book! It was truly captivating. I couldn’t put it down. This is NOT just for young adults. As someone who has experienced the loss of a sibling, it captured the experience in such a heartfelt. The characters were so well well developed and so beautifully written. As someone who is very busy, I enjoy an engrossing quick read. This was it!
March 28, 2017
This book is well written, believable, and hard to put down! It follows Kit through the process of pulling her life back together following the accidental death of her beloved twin brother, Tyler. It tackles tough topics like how an entire family copes with loss, changing family dynamics, growing up, and evolving relationships. Lots of plot twists and turns and a satisfying ending. A hard book to put down!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews