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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
When Janie sees the girl on the back of her friend’s milk carton at lunch, she instantly remembers wearing that dress in the photo, she remembers the itchiness of the fabric against her skin. That little girl with pigtails is her! But how could that be?
As Janie starts to piece together everything, nothing makes sense. Are Mr. and Mrs. Johnson really her parents? Why does she remember other children? Who exactly is she?
I honestly don’t remember why this basically lived in my checkout shelf on Libby for nearly 6 months (yea, I just kept renewing it/putting a hold on it). I think it had to do with it being a banned book for sexual content, challenging authority, and inappropriate for age group. Janie is fifteen and she found out her parents aren’t her biological parents and has been not only lied to, but kidnapped… I think she’s gained the right to be “challenging authority”.
Now, all that being said, did I find this book to be the best written novel in literature? No. Would I have probably enjoyed it a lot more if I read it younger? Yes. By the end of the book, Janie was slightly getting on my nerves and I was also annoyed that I didn’t know if I could trust what the parents said, cause it all sounded CRAZY! Oh, and then I found out this series has FIVE more books?!
Overall, I think young adults would still enjoy reading this. I especially think they would enjoy seeing how kids did their research “back in the day” as Janie tries to find out the truth.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was TERRIBLE but these were my biggest annoyances.
The Plot:
The premise is very interesting and seemed simple enough. Janie sees her face on a milk carton, so she must have been kidnapped. It's a bit dated, obviously, but still sounds like a cool idea. However, the author does almost nothing with that idea for the longest time. Janie sees it, keeps the carton, and then does nothing except fret, fall in love with her neighbor, get mad at her parents, not want to leave her parents, rinse, repeat.
It just seemed so unbelievable that someone who even suspects that they might be kidnapped would be terribly concerned over their high school crush. In Stranger Things, Nancy even says how weird it was that last week she worried about what shirt she should wear for her boyfriend but now that she's fighting monsters, who the fuck cares?
The Characters:
I didn't like the characters, partially because they were so badly written. Everyone's interactions and relationships just felt so false. Janie's friends may as well not have existed for all they added to the plot. Reeve was ~kind of~ important but only because he could drive (and be a love interest).
The worst part was how Janie and her parents talked and interacted. It was so unreal.
"You were her little girl, by the man who had been chosen as her my by the Leader."
"Mate?" repeated Janie. "What an animal term for the love between husband and wife!"
I mean...what teenager, past the 1950s maybe, would talk like that? So much of the dialogue was just info-dumps and very contrived. This may be a personal preference, but it really bugged me that she would refer to her parents as "Mother" and "Daddy" (although sometimes she called her mom "Mommy"). It felt inconsistent, besides being just kind of weird.
The Writing:
The writing was aggressively bad. Like, I am so grateful that most YA novels that are published now seem to have much higher standards.
This bit is an instance of jumping around pointless and bad writing:
Not only did Reeve come out his door in time to see her drive, but so did his older sister Lizzie. Lizzie was not one of Janie's favorite people. Lizzie had occasionally baby-sat for Janie in the past, but not because she liked kids. Lizzie rarely did anything except for the money. Lizzie was supposed to be safely in law school now, being as brilliant there as she had been in Princeton. Janie did not consider Lizzie's absence a loss to the neighborhood. How annoying to see Lizzie home.
Besides the obvious of how many sentences can you start or include Lizzie's name, what is the point of this? Oh man, Lizzie didn't love little kids and wants money. What the fuck did she do to you, Janie? Maybe she isn't glad to be home living next to you? There's this whole background set-up of how Reeve is terrible at everything, especially grades, which really means nothing later. It's just filler, as is this entire paragraph. This whole paragraph could have been contained in one sentence, maybe two.
There's also this gem:
She got halfway there and had to finish her thoughts. Had to write. It was like a druggie stabbing his vein.
And this:
"You talked about me last year to Sarah-Charlotte?"
"Yeah. Now, do you feel like kissing me?" She did. They did.
And it was good.
AND THIS:
"Can you imagine the publicity?" said Janie. "All those horrible newspapers in grocery store racks. Talk shows where everybody else on it has trans-bi-cross sexual habits." She shuddered. "I can hardly wait to be among them."
The Plot:
The premise is very interesting and seemed simple enough. Janie sees her face on a milk carton, so she must have been kidnapped. It's a bit dated, obviously, but still sounds like a cool idea. However, the author does almost nothing with that idea for the longest time. Janie sees it, keeps the carton, and then does nothing except fret, fall in love with her neighbor, get mad at her parents, not want to leave her parents, rinse, repeat.
It just seemed so unbelievable that someone who even suspects that they might be kidnapped would be terribly concerned over their high school crush. In Stranger Things, Nancy even says how weird it was that last week she worried about what shirt she should wear for her boyfriend but now that she's fighting monsters, who the fuck cares?
The Characters:
I didn't like the characters, partially because they were so badly written. Everyone's interactions and relationships just felt so false. Janie's friends may as well not have existed for all they added to the plot. Reeve was ~kind of~ important but only because he could drive (and be a love interest).
The worst part was how Janie and her parents talked and interacted. It was so unreal.
"You were her little girl, by the man who had been chosen as her my by the Leader."
"Mate?" repeated Janie. "What an animal term for the love between husband and wife!"
I mean...what teenager, past the 1950s maybe, would talk like that? So much of the dialogue was just info-dumps and very contrived. This may be a personal preference, but it really bugged me that she would refer to her parents as "Mother" and "Daddy" (although sometimes she called her mom "Mommy"). It felt inconsistent, besides being just kind of weird.
The Writing:
The writing was aggressively bad. Like, I am so grateful that most YA novels that are published now seem to have much higher standards.
This bit is an instance of jumping around pointless and bad writing:
Not only did Reeve come out his door in time to see her drive, but so did his older sister Lizzie. Lizzie was not one of Janie's favorite people. Lizzie had occasionally baby-sat for Janie in the past, but not because she liked kids. Lizzie rarely did anything except for the money. Lizzie was supposed to be safely in law school now, being as brilliant there as she had been in Princeton. Janie did not consider Lizzie's absence a loss to the neighborhood. How annoying to see Lizzie home.
Besides the obvious of how many sentences can you start or include Lizzie's name, what is the point of this? Oh man, Lizzie didn't love little kids and wants money. What the fuck did she do to you, Janie? Maybe she isn't glad to be home living next to you? There's this whole background set-up of how Reeve is terrible at everything, especially grades, which really means nothing later. It's just filler, as is this entire paragraph. This whole paragraph could have been contained in one sentence, maybe two.
There's also this gem:
She got halfway there and had to finish her thoughts. Had to write. It was like a druggie stabbing his vein.
And this:
"You talked about me last year to Sarah-Charlotte?"
"Yeah. Now, do you feel like kissing me?" She did. They did.
And it was good.
AND THIS:
"Can you imagine the publicity?" said Janie. "All those horrible newspapers in grocery store racks. Talk shows where everybody else on it has trans-bi-cross sexual habits." She shuddered. "I can hardly wait to be among them."
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Well written and interesting, this is a short little book with nothing offensive and enough action and intrigue to keep a Young Adult reader going. The style is quite sophistocated, which perhaps makes it less appropriate for the students who might choose it in a reading group for its size - but it does not use much high language and is just a realistic, readable little story. Beginning to be dated now as it was written in 1990 and mentions typewriters and has no mobile phones; apart from this, it could have been written yesterday.
It's every kid's fantasy! Your parents AREN'T yours; they are criminals who kidnapped you. Sweet!!
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Janie is lactose intolerant. She wasn't even supposed to be drinking that milk in the first place. But when she turns the carton over and sees the photo of a missing child printed on the side, it's a photo she recognizes.
It's her.
But her parents are so kind and generous, they can't possibly be kidnappers. This has to be a misunderstanding. But why is Janie suddenly having memories of another life with another family?
This gripping story will keep hold of your attention right through to the end. First in a series. --Beth M.
It's her.
But her parents are so kind and generous, they can't possibly be kidnappers. This has to be a misunderstanding. But why is Janie suddenly having memories of another life with another family?
This gripping story will keep hold of your attention right through to the end. First in a series. --Beth M.