Stolen

Stolen, a young adult novel by debut novelist Lucy Christopher, had great potential to be a tremendous hit at our middle school library, but now that I've read it, I realize the story probably won't be one of the favorites.  Although the story is intriguing, the frustratingly long, drawn out plot will bore my patrons and cause many of them to abandon, I'm afraid.  Gemma, a teenager vacationing with her parents in Bangkok, is kidnapped from the airport and taken to an Australian desert by a Brad Pitt-like young man who is obsessed with her.  She's stolen from her family, drugged and isolated from society.  He plans to keep her forever.  Sounds horrible, right?  But the kidnapper, Ty, has a story all his own and Gemma begins to bond with him.  She's changed by the desert and the author implies possible Stockholm Syndrome may have set in.  (Google Stockholm Syndrome if you want to learn more.  It's quite fascinating.) 

But I'm not so sure that the author's story is believable...there's so much more she could have done with the story and my "readers" will pick up on what's missing.

I recommend the story to mature readers only and I had to censor a sprinkling of "f" and "gd" bombs. 

I hope my 8th grade girls like it, and I hope they're warned enough by reading the story to never get caught up in a situation like Gemma finds herself in...the world is such a scary place.  There is true evil out there.  I'm just not so sure Ty is evil.  Maybe you'll read it and feel differently.

Happy Reading!
RC