Book Summary:
Janie believes she lives an ordinary life with her parents in her town, but one day she sees a milk carton with her younger self in a polka dot dress on the back claiming that she was a missing child. It described that this girl was taken when she was three years old. She was confused and tried to forget about it, but she began remembering things that were unfamiliar to her. After she finds the polka dot dress from the picture in the attic and things belonging to someone named Hannah she confronts her 'parents' and they explain to her that their daughters name is Hannah and that Janie is her daughter and their granddaughter. Hannah left her with them and went back to the cult and the Johnson's changed their names and moved to another state with Janie to make sure the cult did not come back for her. Janie believed her parents but felt the need to research the kidnapping story and found a family with red hair that matched hers. She wrote a letter to this family but did not send it because she still loved the parents that have raised her. She loses the letter and decides to talk to her parents about it and they are shocked and believe that Hannah must have kidnapped her without them realizing that was a possibility and they agreed that it was necessary to contact this family who have been missing their daughter.
APA Reference of Book:
Cooney, C. B. (1990). The Face on the Milk Carton. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.
Impressions:
This book was surprising to me, it was a mystery but not in the scary sense. I enjoyed the points in between about her relationship with Reeve and her friendships at school. It showed that this book had more to it than the mystery. This book made you feel things for the parents (Johnsons) as well as the family that lost Janie. The Johnson's were unaware that Janie was a victim of kidnapping and they thought of her like a daughter. They raised her from 3 years old through her high school years. It is amazing that the Mrs. Johnson was strong enough to tell Janie that they needed to contact her real family even though Janie was unsure if she wanted to. Even though it meant that they may lose another daughter. Cooney really drew the reader in even with the cult thrown in there, it is an interesting perspective of a kidnapee who never realized that she was a victim.
Professional Review:
"Gr 7-10 -- The message on the milk carton reads, "Have you seen this child?" Three-year old Jennie Spring was kidnapped 12 years earlier, but Janie Johnson, looking at the photo, suddenly knows that she is that child. Fragments of memory and evidence accumulate, and when she demands to know about her early childhood years, her parents confess what they believe to be true, that she is really their grandchild, the child of their long-missing daughter who had joined a cult. Janie wants to accept this, but she cannot forget Jennie's family and their loss. Finally, almost against her will, she seeks help and confides in her parents. Her mother insists that she call the Spring family, and the book ends as she calls them. Many young people fantasize about having been adopted or even kidnapped, but the decisions Janie must face are painful and complex, and she experiences denial, anger, and guilt while sorting her way toward a solution. Janie's boyfriend -- sensible, funny, with problems of his own -- is an excellent foil for her intensity. Their romance is natural and believable. Cooney again demonstrates an excellent ear for dialogue and a gift for protraying responsible middle-class teenagers trying to come to terms with very real concerns. A good choice for readers of Norma Fox Mazer's Taking Terri Muller (Morrow, 1983) -- Tatiana Castleton, Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, CA"
Castleton, T. (1990). [Review of the book The Face on the Milk Carton, by C. Cooney]. School Library Journal, 36(2), 109. Retrieved from http://www.slj.com
Library Uses:
Book club discussion
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