The local news broadcasts stories of rape, murder, shootings, kidnapping, and thievery to its audience daily. But what is it missing? Through these short segments and stories, the day-to-day life of someone closely related to a victim is not depicted. How, then, does a person know how to react when one whom they loved is torn from them? For most, merely burying themselves in grief and depression is not an option; one must continue to live and fulfill the duties of a daughter, brother, wife, or father. In the novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Jack Salmon does an adequate job of keeping his composure as he suffers the loss of his daughter and wife.

The Salmons are a typical family of two parents, and three children: fourteen-year-old Susie, thirteen-year-old Lindsey, and three-year-old Buckley. However, one day in this normal family's life changes them forever; on December...