The concept of loss recurs frequently throughout the stories in this collection. In some cases, the child characters have lost a parent, and in others they find themselves lost.

Perhaps the most direct example of loss is in “Haunting Olivia,” where the loss of their sister Olivia looms large in the lives of Wallow and Timothy. In searching for her, they find that they themselves are also metaphorically lost and unable to properly cope with their grief.

In “Accident Brief, Occurrence # 00/422,” Tek becomes lost on the glacier when Rangi pulls him away from rescue and smashes his transponder. Although the situation is grim, he still “feels certain that my family will hear my absence at the bottom of Aokeora, thousands of feet below us, and realize that I am lost” (224). In a way, Tek seems to be living out Olivia’s side of the story, hoping that his family will sense where he is.

Again, in “The City of Shells,” Big Red becomes lost when she is trapped in the giant conch and no one realizes she is gone. Later when questioned by Barnaby about when her parents might start to miss her, she explains that her stepfather is not usually lucid, her real father is unknown, and her mother is always in and out of the house.