All The Lost Things

An unforgettable young girl goes on a road trip adventure through the American South with her father—but what they're leaving behind is as important as what lies ahead.

Dolly is seven. Her number-one all-time most-best friend is her stuffed horse, Clemesta. One Saturday morning, Dad sweeps them both up into his arms and carries them off on a week-long road-trip adventure. The destination: the best place in the world.

The first days on the road are incredibly exciting. Dolly has never been allowed to miss school, or gone on a trip, or had Dad all to herself. They stop along the way for milkshakes and shopping sprees and a theme park. They get to sleep in motels, eat junk food, and watch cartoons on TV.

But as they get farther from home, Clemesta begins to whisper things in Dolly’s ear. Things like, “We need to eat some vegetables,” and “When do we get to see Mom?” As much as Dolly doesn’t want to spoil the adventure, even she has to admit that things aren’t quite right. Dad is acting strange, and sometimes scary, and he seems to think that someone is following them.

Through the eyes of a remarkable narrator who leaps off the page, All the Lost Things charts a life-changing journey, and reveals the surprising intersections of love, truth, and memory.

Praise for All The Lost Things:

“Firmly in the vein of Emma Donoghue’s Room…surprisingly emotional.”–The New York Times Book Review

“Michelle Sacks digs deep into the nature of emotional survival in this enthralling, heartbreaking tale. You will not close this book dry-eyed but you will fall in love with Dolly and her sidekick Clemesta, just as I did. A book not to be missed.”
– Susan Crandall, author of Whistling Past the Graveyard and The Myth of Perpetual Summer

“Dolly is one of the most endearing literary characters I have ever met and I am in awe of Michelle Sacks’ writing skill to find a unique voice that is precocious and pure, innocent and wise, tender and brave. It carried the power of Emma Donoghue’s amazing book Room: A Novel… [Michelle] climbed into a precious seven-year old’s mind whose world was broken and steered us over rocky roads to a safe haven. This book is a BONAFIDE winner.”
– Leah Weiss, Bestselling author of If The Creek Don’t Rise

 “Sacks proves herself a master of slow-burn suspense…The tension in this emotionally nuanced novel comes not from the question of what Dolly's father actually did, which the reader suspects early on, but from where this physical journey and mental unfolding may take them, and what might be lost along the way – Alice Martin, Shelf Awareness