Module 9 The Face on the Milk Carton

Summary:  Janie is just a normal teenage girl living a fairly normal life, that is until she makes a shocking discovery.  She sees her face from twelve years ago on the back of a milk carton saying that she had been kidnapped. How could this be?  This leads Janie to start questioning her life, her parents, and her past.

Cooney, C. B. (1990). The face on the milk carton. New York: Detacorte Press.

My Impressions: I thought this book was hard to relate to for me and for its targeted audience since I don't even think people buy milk in cartons anymore and they definitely don't feature pictures of missing kids this way anymore. I didn't dislike the book, but didn't love it.  I enjoyed reading about Janie falling in love with Reeve, but was disappointed with the lack of suspense. And I'm  still neutral on how the author concluded the story with her actually been kidnapped and the people who raised her never searched for Janie's real family.

Professional Review:

One brief glance at a face on a milk carton turns 15-year-old Janie's life upside-down. For there, looking out from the picture of a missing child, is the face of Janie as she was 12 years ago. Was she kidnapped by her own parents? But who are her real parents and who is she? Follow Janie as she struggles to learn the truth of her identity and regain control of her life without destroying the lives of those she loves.

 [Review of The Face on the Milk Carton]. (n.d.) Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Retrieved from http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us/readers_club/reviews/tresults.asp?id=1054

Library Use: I think it would be interesting to have student discuss in groups on how a teenager in present day would go about finding out if he or she had been kidnapped.  Students could then write a short mystery about it.