Henry, April. Girl Stolen.

Henry, April Girl Stolen
Henry Holt/macmillan children's pub group 2010 213p 16.99 978-0-8050-9005-5 ms/hs VG-BN


Cheyenne is 16, blind, and has pneumonia. When Griffin, also a teen, steals the car not knowing she is in the back seat, the story develops into a kidnapping. Griffin's dad, a criminal, discovers that Cheyenne's dad is head of Nike. This page turner follows the relationship between the two teens as Cheyenne tries to escape and Griffin becomes her protector. Cheyenne is 16 and has been blind for the last three years of her life after an auto accident that killed her mother. As the novel starts, Cheyenne is dozing in the back of her stepmother's car while her stepmother runs into the drug store to get antibiotics to treat Cheyenne's current case of pneumonia. Suddenly, the car starts, and Griffin, the teen who intended to steal a car, is now involved in kidnapping. When he realizes there is a person in the back seat, it is too late to turn back. He takes Cheyenne to his house, where his father and his criminal friends run an illegal car parts business. Cheyenne, smart, resourceful , and brave, assesses her situation and uses all her senses to plan an escape. Griffin's dad, cruel and mean, finds out that Cheyenne╒s dad is head of Nike, and the stakes of the kidnapping become higher. Griffin and Cheyenne start out in a hostile situation, but later in the book, as he realizes the intents of his father and his friends, he becomes her protector. The level of intensity of this thriller becomes higher as the plot unfolds. Cheyenne and Griffin tell the story in alternating chapters from their own perspectives which gives an interesting twist to the story. This is a real page turner right from the start that keeps building and will grip the reader until the very end. Girl, Stolen has an attractive cover that may entice readers without a book talk and is a very good selection for grades seven and up. Recommended for Tristate Books of Note - 2011. Weinraub, Tina