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    The Year We Disappeared: a Father-Daughter Memoir
    The Year We Disappeared: a Father-Daughter Memoir
    The Year We Disappeared: a Father-Daughter Memoir
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Year We Disappeared: a Father-Daughter Memoir

    Written by Cylin Busby and John Busby

    Narrated by Cylin Busby and David Baker

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A peaceful summer night is shattered by gunfire as an unseen assailant tries to murder police officer John Busby. Though horribly wounded, Busby survives. But the perpetrator remains at large, meaning Busby and his family remain in danger.

    In alternating chapters, John Busby and his daughter, Cylin, tell the harrowing true story of the year that followed - John from his perspective as parent, Cylin from the point of view of the nine-year-old child that she was.

    Together father and daughter craft an unforgettable picture of fear, of police corruption, and of a malignant thug who no one dares to cross. Yet their story is also one of redemption and recovery, and ultimately of hope and healing.

    A Full Cast Audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherFull Cast Audio
    Release dateJan 1, 2012
    ISBN9781936223312
    Author

    Cylin Busby

    Cylin Busby is the author of three feline-focused books: The White House Cat, illustrated by Neely Daggett, The Bookstore Cat, illustrated by Charles Santoso, and The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs. Her books for teens include the acclaimed memoir The Year We Disappeared and the novels The Stranger Game and Blink Once. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. You can visit her online at www.cylinbusby.com.

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    Reviews for The Year We Disappeared

    4/5

    70 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Officer John Busby was on his way to work as a police officer on Cape Cod when he was ambushed from a moving vehicle. The injuries he sustained that day in 1979 resulted in months and months of painful reconstructive surgery and healing. Beyond the physical injury was the damage done to his family: he, his wife and three children were forced to live under heavy police protection, as the would-be killer might come after any of them at any time.

      This tale of a family whose life is turned upside-down is told as a memoir, the chapters alternating between John's recollections and those of his daughter, Cylin, who was nine years old at the time of the events. This format works well, as we see the same chronology seen through different eyes: the rage and pain of the father, and the confusion and dismay of his young daughter.

      The Year We Disappeared does contain some rather disturbing description of the shooting and the injuries sustained, and for some young readers this may be hard to take. But overall, this book is suitable for anyone, say, tenth grade to adult. The writing is direct in a refreshing way: reading it, we feel as though we're getting the unadorned truth, not a literary effort. Cylin's writing, especially, is evocative, bringing in elements of childhood to which I could easily relate. That helps bring the family to life on the printed page.

      This is a tale of adversity and of survival, with a good dose of suspense, since every bump in the night is a potential source of terror. Still, this isn't a thriller -- it's the story of a family determined to survive, together. It's well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      This book was billed as a “father-daughter memoir,” and my daughter expressed interest in reading it. Thus, we decided to read it together. Multiple narrators give voice in this work, and authors are cycled in chapters between Cylin (the daughter) and John (the father).This is no normal father-daughter relationship, however. The father John, a police officer in Massachusetts, was targeted in a shooting by a crime family. Over decades, he had his face surgically reconstructed after the bullet destroyed his jaw. His family lived under the constant fear of being further targeted. Obviously, this affected their family dynamics. This story seems ripe for a memoir.Both my daughter and I enjoyed Cylin’s telling more than John’s telling. Cylin seems more focused on adjusting to life; John seems more purely angry at the perpetrators, an understandable reaction. John’s wife and two sons also had their lives upended, but Cylin seems to have the most perceptive insight.I kept waiting for the metaphorical dam to break. I kept waiting for their lives to get back to “normal.” That seemed never to happen. These events changed their lives. They disappeared for a year, yes, but they also changed forever. The family did try to bring good from this horrific circumstance, and they deserve credit for that.Although written in father-daughter pairings, this story is more about crime than it is about a parent-child relationship. The crime and its aftermath are profoundly interesting. It seems that each family member dealt with the crime in their own way. Eventually, they resumed with life. I’m not sure I’d say that it drew them closer together. The circumstance just made each of them more resilient as individuals. They each grew to have more inner strength. That’s the legacy of this horror, but in the “Where They Are Now” section, the family members seemed to have adapted to their future lives. Overall, it’s a great tragedy.
    • 4/5
      In 1979, Cylin was 9-years old. Her father, John, was police officer in a town in Massachusetts. He was shot in the face and survived, but – even though he was certain who was behind it – the police seemed to not be pursuing it. John believed the person behind the shooting was a local well-known criminal, Raymond Meyer, who also had connections at the police department and was known to be untouchable. Even so, some of the officers, including John, still tried to bring Ray to justice for various crimes. I thought this was very good. Frustrating about the corruption in the police department and not being able to do anything about Ray for so many different offenses. The viewpoint went back and forth between Cylin and John, so you could read about the happenings from each person's perspective.
    • 4/5
      Corruption in the police department leads to the attempted murder of John Busby. The family then lives in fear under armed guards, until they decide this is no way to live. Great book!
    • 3/5
      I was surprised that this was classified as a YA book, but after I read it, I realized that it was good that I read the YA version. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, and it turned out to be not at all what I expected. I am glad this was a YA book, because a memoir with this content for adults could have been extremely, and unnecessarily violent.

      After starting to read, I realized that it might be a little violent and not my cup of tea. I read past the most difficult part and I have to say that the authors handle the physical parts very well. They don't idolize violence and settle, quite well, into a realistic telling of real people dealing with an unbelievable tragedy. I found that I really got a sense of the fear that developed as the situation unfolded as well as the coping skills the family developed to deal with the fear.

      The back and forth of father and daughter is well done and not gimmicky at all. I also think the feelings the authors describe seem quite real. It seems authentic the way the dad thinks about keeping his family safe while the daughter is trying to puzzle out what is going on in her family. I think the reasoning she does, based on the information she gets from her mother and other family, shows how children try and create answers in stressful situations even if they don't have all the information.

      I was glad the authors selected a short time period and included an epilogue rather than trying to write about the rest of their lives. I would have liked a little bit longer epilogue in order to know things like did Cylin and Amelia stay in touch?
    • 2/5
      This book is co - written by a father and daughter. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the daughter told the whole thing. It was just OK, the beginning was good, but it went stagnant for a while and sort of ended without actually having an "ending".
    • 4/5
      Very interesting - liked format with alternating chapters from father and daughter. Missed out on more detail at ending and maybe some pictures. Maybe for older teens.
    • 4/5
      August 31, 1979, was a nightmare for the Busby family. John Busby, a police officer, was shot at a very close range on his way to work. He had been targeted by an arsonist who wanted revenge on John. The Year We Disappeared is an emotional memoir wrote by John and his daughter Cylin, who was nine at the time of the shooting. The two talk about the year that followed the horrible tragedy- the police protection, body guards, social isolation by her friends at school, constant fear and pain, and even their family going into hiding. The alternating chapters and flashback memories discuss John’s reconstructive surgeries and the corruption at his police department. This story is a page turner to say the least and is a much more emotional read because it is written by the people who suffered. Although not appropriate for younger grades, this book is a perfect edition for a high school classroom or library.
    • 5/5
      In this book, daughter Cylin and father John share the story of what happened to their family in 1979 when John, a police officer, was shot in the head. John wasn't killed, but the bottom of his jaw was shot off and he had a long, painful recovery ahead of him. Worse was the fact that he was certain that the man behind his attempted murder was a local criminal who thought he had the police force in his pocket. John refused to give in to this man's threats and as a result he almost lost his life and his family was put in danger.The really neat thing about this book is that you get two different perspectives. John writes his story - his painful recovery and crippling anger and frustration at an investigation that went much too slowly. Cylin writes her story - constant fear that her dad might die or that someone might be coming to kill her too, social ostracism because police officers followed her wherever she went.I found it totally compelling and didn't want to put it down. Highly recommended for high schoolers and adults.