If you’re looking for a fantastic book that will leave you thinking, I can’t believe that just happened every time you turn the page, look no further. The Year We Disappeared is a memoir cowritten by father-daughter duo John and Cylin Busby. It is the story of how, John Busby, and his family, including daughter Cylin Busby, had their lives turned upside down.
One fateful day, on his way to work, Police Officer John Busby was shot in the face through the window of his squad car. He and his family lived to tell the tale.
This book takes readers through the shooting, the immediate aftermath, and the ways this tragedy forever transformed the lives of the Bubsy family overnight.
In an instant, the Busby family went from being a typical suburban family to living in a veritable fortress. While many children grow up playing with a family puppy, the Busby children grew up with a trained guard dog none of them could pet. Reflecting on her childhood, Cylin often sites the shooting as the moment she lost her innocence about the cruelty of the world as well as her childhood.
Throughout the book both authors use their different perspectives--John being the physical victim and Cylin being only 9-years old at the time-- on the events that transpired before, during, and after the accident to tell their individual stories. They take readers through the dismantling and the rebuilding of their lives, and the emotions that accompanied these events. It is well written and poignant throughout.
This book is one you can curl up and be enraptured by; if you haven’t already, this is a definite add for your reading list.