The Year Without Michael — Susan Beth Pfeffer

Bad things aren't supposed to happen to good people. But somewhere between home and the softball field, 16-year-old Jody Chapman's younger brother disappeared, and now the family is falling apart. Her parents hardly speak to each other, her younger sister is angry and bitter, and Jody's friends, always so important to her, are slowly slipping away. It seems that all anyone can do is wait. Wait--for Michael to walk in the door. Wait--to stop missing him. Wait--to stop waiting. When a private detective can't uncover a single clue about Michael's disappearance, Jody's urgent need to find him drives her to make a last desperate attempt to hold her family together.