Book Review : Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (September 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805090053
• ISBN-13: 978-0805090055
• Available on: Amazon / The Book Depository
• Source: Review copy from publisher
  

Sixteen year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her mom fills her prescription at the pharmacy. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen—with her inside! Griffin hadn’t meant to kidnap Cheyenne, all he needed to do was steal a car for the others. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne’s father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there’s a reason to keep her. What Griffin doesn’t know is that Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia, she is blind. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare, and if she does, at what price?

As you can read from the synopsis, the protagonist Cheyenne is sick and blind. But her bad luck doesn't end there. When her stepmother, Danielle drives her to a pharmacy to get medicine supplies, she asks her to leave the key in the ignition to keep her warm. Then, when someone enters the car, she realizes from the person's micro-behaviours that he/she is definitely not Danielle. That's when reality hits - her car is stolen, and worse, she's inside it!

This book is different from other books which I've read before. I think the best thing about this book is that the author has successfully portrayed Cheyenne's character. Having a blind protagonist is not easy, and I'm sure April has done quite a lot of researching and reading on this part. She narrates the story skillfully (this book is told in third person), telling us what Cheyenne feels at a particular moment, how she reacts to perilous events, and how she plans to outwit her captors.

Griffin steals a Cadillac Escalade on a whim, without realizing that there's a girl in the backseat. When he discovers her, it is too late to let her go. So he brings her back to his dad's place, along with the car. He promises her that he will let her go once it is dark. But his dad declares that they will keep her as a captive after listening to the news broadcast reporting about the missing Cheyenne Wilder, for her father is Nike's president, and she is their one-way-ticket to wealth.

The friendship between Cheyenne and Griffin is honest and unfeigned, although it seems out of place because of their different roles - one captive and the other the captor. But still, Cheyenne doesn't trust Griffin entirely, despite the fact that he's the only one who's kind towards her. She even tries to knock him unconscious on the day his father and his sidekicks go to get the ransom which they demanded earlier from Cheyenne's father. I don't blame her for this, because this only proves that her survival instincts are functional and that she already knows that Griffin's father is not going to release her. I really admire Cheyenne's extraordinary spirit and strength. You would probably think that being blind, she will just give up and surrender. But this tough teenage girl will absolutely prove you wrong. She faces the problem calmly, and even tries to escape without the help of her cane. Her courage and determination to keep herself alive is indeed commendable. I couldn't imagine myself going through everything that Cheyenne has gone through - it was a really scary experience. And what's worse is that she's blind.

Girl, Stolen is really amazing! I devoured the book in one-sitting. The story is fast-paced thrilling and suspenseful. Even though I constantly feared for Cheyenne's safety, I remained hopeful for her survival. The climax of this novel left me in awe with the author's creativity and brilliant storytelling ability. The twist she inserted made my insides churn with fear for Cheyenne's fate. I'll stop here so that I don't accidentally spill anything. If you want to know whether Cheyenne escapes efficaciously, you'll have to read this book to find out.

Note: This book is a clean read. I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a great, thrilling story.

Rating:

My deepest gratitude to April Henry and Kathryn Hurley from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me the chance to read and review this amazing book! Thank you so much!

April Henry writes mysteries and thrillers. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her family. When she was 12, she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He liked it so much he arranged to have it published in an international children's magazine. She has written eight novels for adults and teens, with more on the way.

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