Stolen Children by Peg Kehret

Stolen Children by Peg Kehret is the story of a babysitting job gone horribly wrong.  Amy is called at the spur of the moment to fill in for Mrs. Edgerton's usual nanny who has gone on vacation.  Amy is having a lot of fun playing with 3 year old Kendra.  While Kendra takes her nap, Amy relaxes by the family's pool.  An hour and a half later, Amy goes to check on Kendra and finds her missing.  When she runs out into the street, she sees Kendra with two strange men... kidnappers.  Once they see Amy, they decide to change their plan and take her too.  Their plan is to ask Kendra's wealthy family for ransom after holding the girls for one week.  Smokey and Hugh hadn't bargained on Amy's unique survival skills, though!  She begins sending messages through the DVDs the kidnappers are recording of the kids!  Hoping that this is enough to lead the police to them, Amy does her best to continue taking care of Kendra.  She's terrified about the 7th day, however, because the kidnappers never talk about her and what will happen when they return Kendra to her family.  Fearing the worst, Amy looks for every opportunity to lead the two of them to safety.

This was a great story and a quick read.  It's short, but full of action and suspense throughout.  I really like the way the author wove in little side stories about characters who had come in contact with the kidnappers and the kids.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense novel that isn't too scary.

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan

Accomplice by Eireann Corrigan is about best friends, Finn and Chloe. Both girls are looking ahead to their future: college. Unfortunately, despite their good grades, extracurricular activities, and positive attitudes, the girls are afraid they don't have anything to write their application essays about that will make them stand out amongst the other applicants. So, they hatch a plan to get them noticed. They will fake Chloe's disappearance. While Chloe hides out in Finn's grandmother's vacant house, the rest of their small town begins a manhunt to track down her kidnapper. This leaves Finn to deal with all of the police and news crews who show up to help. Throughout the entire ordeal, Finn nearly cracks. She finds some solace in Dean, the boy who had recently become Chloe's boyfriend and is now the prime suspect in her disappearance. Finn visits Chloe in secret when she gets an opportunity, and is convinced they need to call off the plan. As things get more and more heated in town and their plan begins to change, Finn can't seem to get past the need to come clean, while Chloe remains resolved to see it through. In the end, Finn learns some things about Chloe and her plan that she never would have suspected and she begins to wonder how solid their friendship was in the first place.

This was a really interesting book. Every guess I had about what would happen next was wrong! It kept me reading just so I could find out how everything was resolved. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good suspense novel or mystery - this ISN'T a mystery, but I think mystery lovers will like it!

Vanished: True Stories of the Missing by Marc Tyler Nobleman

Vanished: True Stories of the Missing by Marc Tyler Nobleman is exactly what you would think - true stories about people who are/were missing. The book highlights 7 different cases, some of whom have been found, and some are still missing.

Erica Pratt, second grader—“Escape from the Basement” is about a little girl who was kidnapped.


Percy Fawcett, explorer—“The Real Indiana Jones" is the story of a man who disappeared while on an exploration.

Grant Hadwin, woodsman—“The Golden Tree Killer” is about a man who tried to make a statement about our environment, only to anger and betray many people throughout the world.

Henry Grimes, musician—“Play That Song Again” tells the story of a famous musician who simply vanished.

Everett Ruess, nature lover—“I Leave No Trace” is the story of a person who, on eday, disappeared into the nature he loved so much.

Hannah Klamecki, kindergartner—“Very Harder Than I Thought” tells of a 6 year old girl and her grandfather who went missing during an afternoon boat ride.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, aviator/author—“Pilot, Poet, and Prince” is about a pilot who disappeared during a mission.

This was a really fun read. It was interesting to read about these people and their experiences. Some of them were tragic while others were triumphant!

Snatched (The Bloodwater Mysteries) by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue

Snatched (Bloodwater Mysteries #1) by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue is about Roni, a high school student from a small town called Bloodwater. Roni is a reported for her school newspaper, and is always getting into trouble for the things she writes. On her way out of the principal's office one day, she meets Brian, another high school student who can't seem to stay out of trouble. Both earn suspensions for their respective crimes, and instead of using their time to "think about what they've done," they use it to investigate the beating and kidnapping of one of their classmates. Alicia Camden isn't the nicest student at their school, but when she claims she's been attacked by a stranger, and then disappears the following day, everyone is shocked. Roni and Brian use their best investigative reporting to get to the bottom of the story that just isn't adding up.

I loved this book! I read it for our new project in honors reading, and I'm glad this is the one I picked. I don't usually read mysteries, but this one was great! The characters were real people, which is something I really admire. This book had a little bit of everything - mystery (of course), drama, humor, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a mystery. And, I'll be reading the second Bloodwater Mystery very soon!

Premonitions by Jude Watson

Premonitions by Jude Watson is about Gracie, a teenage girl who is just realizing that she has visions about people's past and future. After her father ran out on her and her mother died in a car accident, Gracie finally ends up living with her Aunt Shay and Cousin Diego. Her only friend on the tiny island just off of the Washington coast is Emily. When Emily suddenly disappears just after Gracie had a vision about her, Gracie realizes that she needs to crawl out of the protective shell she's built around herself and do something. With the help of Diego, Gracie uncovers a bizarre scheme and finds Emily. Unfortunately, Gracie puts herself into danger and becomes captured by the same psycho who has Emily. She has to use everything she knows about her new powers to get herself, Emily, and the other kids she finds out alive, before it's too late.

This was an exciting book. It was fun learning about Gracie's powers of ESP right along with her. The mystery was really interesting to try to solve as well! There were enough twists and turns to throw me off, just like Gracie. This is the first book in the Premonitions Series. Book two is called Disappearance.

Three Days by Donna Jo Napoli

Three Days by Donna Jo Napoli is about Jackie, an eleven year old girl who spends three terrifying days kidnapped by strangers in Italy. The story begins as Jackie and her father are in Italy for her father's business. On their way back to their hotel one night, her father suffers a heart attack in the car, leaving Jackie stranded. A car pulls up and Jackie goes with the men, thinking they are there to help her. Unfortunately for her, they have other plans.

This book was a quick read for me. It was exciting following Jackie and her thoughts as she tried to escape from this strange situation. I enjoyed the subtle clues Donna Jo Napoli gave as to who the kidnappers were and their reasons for abducting Jackie. I also liked the way the ending left the reader hanging, allowing me to make up my own "then what happened."