Readers will be rooting for Cheyenne and Griffin from the edges of their seats.
The story of Cheyenne and Griffin continues in this sequel to Girl, Stolen (2010).
Six months after her kidnapping, Cheyenne Wilder is preparing for the trial of Roy Sawyer, the man who held her for ransom, dealing with her overprotective parents, and learning self-defense techniques from her new bodyguard. Cheyenne can’t—and won’t—let being blind stop her from becoming stronger. Yet when it comes to Griffin Sawyer, the boy who accidentally kidnapped her but helped her escape, Cheyenne doesn’t feel strong. Griffin is going to testify against his father, Roy, which causes Roy and his half brother, Dwayne, to begin plotting. Through third-person chapters that shift perspectives, readers see how, together with TJ, another accomplice from the first kidnapping, Dwayne sets events in motion to kidnap Cheyenne again. In a pulse-pounding sequence, Cheyenne must find a way to use what she has learned to save herself and Griffin—but when Dwayne threatens more than just the two of them, how can two teenagers, one of them blind, defeat a fully grown man? Providing plenty of background for anyone who did not read the first book, this novel offers action, with a disabled protagonist heading the white cast of characters. Cheyenne’s blindness makes her an out-of-the-ordinary thriller star, particularly when emotions like confusion and self-doubt are shown, helping readers get under her skin. While Dwayne and TJ remain cardboard villains, they still constitute a credible menace.
Readers will be rooting for Cheyenne and Griffin from the edges of their seats. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-591-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.
A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.
One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.
A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780593327173
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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