Most wanted
14 years old, inundated by sex and with a little sister who has turned into a thief. Your parents are engrossed by other matters, so when finding out about your little sister it starts a long row that continue into the small hours while you’re trying to sleep. The atmosphere at home gets more and more intense and as a crisis with your best friend results in none of you talking to each other, you are suddenly faced with the problem at home all by yourself. This is what the narrator in the British short story “Most Wanted” (2000) by Amanda Coe experiences in her childhood growing up with her little sister and her father and mother. She is almost a grown up, but doesn’t want to be.
The short story takes its beginning with a small introduction of the main character and her family’s problems which let us know, that it is in the past. It takes place in Mrs. Church’s house and in the main characters house, which, judging by the fact that the father has to pick up Michelle in car from Mrs. Church’s house must not be close to each other. The exact location however remains unknown. It is indicated that the family is of a middle class. They live in a two floor house, both the children go to school and Michelle has lent some books from the Millbank Junior library. Furthermore does the invitation for tea indicate a higher upper class: “Mom suggested that Alison Church should be invited for tea” (ll.31-32).
The 14-year-old narrator’s personality develops throughout the story. Her age indicates that she is about to become a teenager, which is supported by the development with her friend Gary: “Gary and I were undergoing a crisis. Our arrangement, for months so rewarding had been breached by him attempting to kiss me” (ll.83-84). At the beginning of the story she likes her mother more than she likes her father because she can transform any possible crime into