So i had to read this for the 'banned books' portion of my teen r/a class, and i am convinced that this wasn't banned by parents or terrible librarians, but by the students themselves who were like, 'noooooo, don't make us read this!! it is soooo ba-zoring!!!' 'gossip girl'? 'the clique'? 'the A-List series'? 'we all wear the same pants'? 'glitter and STDs'? etc etc.) personally, i'm just glad that i was reading this and not the petty whoreish trash they have out for young ladies these days (ie. So why all the critical reviews, guys? it's not war and peace, i'll give you that. by the time there was a cute boy and a radio show (third book? thirtieth book? there were a LOT) i was daydreaming about seeing my face on the walmart 'HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CHILD' board. i remember being very drawn in, and like, um, TOTALLY loving it. cooney didn't explore the complications of such a traumatic teenage discovery in a way i couldn't understand at that age. or at least get you out of gym class.Īs i remember it, things got pretty melodramatic in this book, which is not to say that ms. everybody wants to find out they've been kidnapped when they're that age! it's WAY cooler than just being born into suburbia and would probably boost your status in the social food chain at least a couple points. it was because you were in middle school, and therefore an angsty teen who wished you too could discover your lame parents weren't actually related to you by blood. if you loved this book when you were in middle school, it sure as hell wasn't because you thought the literary style was articulate and composed. Man, there are some HATERS on this front page. Caroline lives in Westbrook, Connecticut and when she's not writing she volunteers at a hospital, plays piano for the school musicals and daydreams! She often organizes what she calls a 'plotting game,' in which students work together to create plots for stories. To keep her stories realistic, Caroline visits many schools outside of her area, learning more about teenagers all the time. 'In a suspense novel, you can count on action.' Suspense novels are her favorites to read and write. She began to sell stories to Seventeen magazine and soon after began writing books. When her children were young, Caroline started writing books for young people - with remarkable results. I started writing then and never stopped!' 'He used to rip off covers from The New Yorker and pass them around and make us write a short story on whichever cover we got. Caroline Cooney knew in sixth grade that she wanted to be a writer when 'the best teacher I ever had in my life' made writing her main focus.

Janie face on the milk carton