Review: Girl Stolen

[Danielle Sonni]

Gril Stolen, A Novelby April Henry

I loved this book! I have loved all of my books so far, so not sure how critical I am :)

Summary:
Cheyenne is 16 years old and while laying down in the back of her stepmom's Escalade, the car gets stolen. The person stealing the car, Griffin, didn't realize she was back there at first but figures he's already stolen the car he can't really turn back now. Cheyenne's stepmom was running into the store to get her medicine because Cheyenne has pneumonia, but not only is she sick and being stolen, she is blind too!! Cheyenne gets taken to Griffin's house where Roy (father of Griffin) decides they will hold her as ransom (they find out on the news that Cheyenne's dad is the CEO of Nike). Cheyenne and Griffin are the same age and form a bond of sorts while she is help captive. Although Griffin seems like a good kid, his father Roy is horrible and Cheyenne does not think she will make it out alive. Should she escape? How can she fend for herself as a blind person?

YAL Criteria:
~YA authors write from the viewpoint of young people- we see the story from the POV of both Cheyenne and Griffin
~YA lit gets rid of parents so the young person is free to take credit for his/her own accomplishments- Cheyenne is separated from her parents and only has herself to rely on. Griffin is also forced to make choices for himself that may go against his father.
~YA lit is fast paced- This book is a mystery and therefore very face paced. I seriously could not put it down.
~YA lit includes a variety of genres and subjects- This book covers many different topics: friendship,betrayal, family hardships, coming of age/person struggles
~YA books are optimistic w/ characters making worthy accomplishments- Cheyenne is stronger in the end and Griffin is also better off. We are left hanging to wonder if they will stay in contact with each other, after all they went through together.
~Successful YA novels deal w/ emotions that are important to young adults- This book deals with many emotions that YAs would relate to: fear, bravery, trust, seeking independence

Personal Response:
This book is so good, just read it! I really connected to both Cheyenne and Griffin. There are a lot of sub plots with Griffin and you learn about his background and why he is how he is. You also learn about how Cheyenne became blind (in a car accident 3 years ago that took her mother's life). I don't think I would teach this in the classroom, just because I think there are other books that would work better academically. But I would for sure use this as an option for students to read on their own and do an assignment for.

Link to learn more:
http://www.aprilhenrymysteries.com/teen_books/girlstolen.php