Children's Books > C Children's Books > Caroline B. Cooney

Advantages: Concludes the series nicely, as usual well written and entertaining
Disadvantages: Not the end I would have wished for

...bit more and Janie determines what really happens and traces and meets her birth family. Lots of other stuff happens – 3 books worth in fact – but that’s not important here. This book: Carrying straight on from “The Voice on the Radio” (book 3 in the series), this book tells us of Janie’s life at the moment. Things have settled down, and her 2 families are beginning to get on ok. When her (adopted / kidnapping) ...
...realization that everything is not what it seems. Even the messed up world she’s currently living in, with 2 families and a lot of confusion, is nothing compared to this and she does the typical Janie thing of acting first and thinking later. The good stuff: Imagine you’re young. Younger than you are. Younger than I am. For someone in that position, this book is amazing. It is well written in a simple, laid back style, and has just ... Read review

Advantages: Thought provoking, entertaining, topical
Disadvantages: The ending is a little open

...didn’t mind, though. He liked the excitement of it all – taking the tube to school each day, getting a paper round just like in the States, having his grandmother back home send him care packages of Oreos and other goodies for him to eat (if he was hungry or homesick) or sell to his school friends for a huge profit (if he was in business mode). Life was just fine and dandy when one morning someone handed him a package as he was coming ...
...bravery he wrapped himself around the parcel just before it exploded, sacrificing his own life to save those of the other travelers around him. The rest of the book focuses on Laura – Billy’s older sister – as she tries to come to terms with her loss, and find answers to all the questions in her mind: Why that day? Why Billy? Was he a child picked at random, or was it planned? Is someone after the family? The children attended ... Read review

Advantages: Compelling story with lively characters, interesting, engaging topic, perfect for reluctant readers
Disadvantages: Leaves you eager for the sequels

In America they print the faces of missing kids onto milk cartons in the hope that someone will recognize them, even several years later. For most people this is nothing new, but if you happen to be allergic to milk, and thus never happen to have it in the house, you won’t be exposed to the idea on a daily basis, and so it still seems intriguing in a way. Janie is 15 years old, and a lactose intolerant student at an American high school. An ...
...until one day at lunch the conversation turns to milk carton kids. She borrows a friend’s carton and is shocked to find a photo of a 3 year old who looks remarkably like herself at that age. The blurb says the girl in question was kidnapped 12 years ago, which makes her the same age as the group now. Coincidence, or something more? Janie wants to find out and, enlisting the help of various friends and acquaintances, sets out to discover the ... Read review

Advantages: Easy, pleasant read. Underlying comedy throughout
Disadvantages: Perhaps a little superficial at times

...me of dancing festivals. Twenty Pageants Later is not a book that’s big on action or horror. Instead, it’s a reflective tale of a daughter who lives in the shadows of her accolade winning sister, and is struggling to find her way in life. Scottie-Ann is used to being compared to her sister, and has learnt to deal with it: it’s not that hard since pageants are a weekend thing, easy to keep separate from her student life. This changes when the school ...
...their library, and Dane is drafted in to coach the girls who decided to enter. Though a typical young adult story in many ways, the book stands out because of the way the young love angle is thrown to the back to make way for the real theme of pageants. Details of these are scattered on every page – the who, the what, the when, the where and the why. Tips on winning are thrown around like confetti, a few here, a few there. Scottie-Ann may take a ... Read review

Advantages: Will completely draw you into the story.
Disadvantages: There really are none!

For Janie fans who got hooked on the first book of this trilogy, (The Face on the Milkcarton), this long-awaited sequel will not be a disappointment. Janie Johnson has now discovered who her original family is, and has to make a heart-breaking decision...stay with Miranda, the mother she grew up with, or go back to the Spring family - her birth family - and live her life as Jenny. What with Hannah, cults and her boyfriend Reeve intertwining the ... Read review