Whatever Happened to Janie?

by Caroline B. Cooney Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

Overview

When Janie first realized she was the missing child on the milk carton, her whole world fell apart. At first, she wondered if the parents she loved so much had actually kidnapped her, but it turns out that they were only trying to protect her. Now that the mystery of Janie's kidnapping has been unravelled, she is caught on the horns of a huge dilemma. Since the age of three, she has been calling the Johnsons "Mommy" and "Daddy." Suddenly, at the age of 15, she's expected to start her life all over again with a house full of noisy siblings and two strangers who are her biological parents. Will things ever be normal again? Young adult listeners may see something of themselves in the teen-aged Janie, whose anger, stubbornness, and rebellion are natural in her situation. Narrator Alyssa Bresnahan skillfully conveys the powerful emotions and the realistic decisions that this award-winning author so deftly tackles.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The sequel to The Face on the Milk Carton explores the trauma of a kidnapped adopted child returned to her birth parents. ``The power and nature of love is wrenchingly illustrated,'' wrote PW in a starred review. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)q

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-- Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton (Bantam, 1990) involved a 15-year-old girl who discovers she had been kidnapped when she was 3. Those left hanging by the ambiguous ending to that story will want to read this sequel in which Janie goes to live with her biological parents and four siblings. Although all of the family members are eager to include her, she's determined to remain emotionally aloof. Finally, Janie asserts her desire to return to her adopted family, and her biological parents love her enough to let her go. The strength of this book is that all of the parties are easy to empathize with. They are well-rounded characters with quirks and annoying qualities, yet all have compassion for ``the other guy,'' even while feeling their own pain. The suspense centers around the question of which family needs Janie more and which she will choose. There is no clear answer to her dilemma since both love her and have suffered through no fault of their own. While Janie ultimately puts her own feelings first by choosing the family that is ``real'' to her, the stage is set for future changes of heart and perhaps another sequel. Meanwhile, this book won't gather dust on the shelf. --Jacqueline Rose, Southeast Regional Library, NC

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171109882
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	11/15/2013
Series:	Janie Johnson (Face on the Milk Carton) , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	995,689

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