Abduction!

"Don't talk to strangers." "Run away and get an adult immediately." "Don't get in a car with a stranger."  What if that stranger had your dog? He said your mom wanted to meet you at the hospital? He was your father?

Imagine your name is Matt. You're six years old. Your mom always told you to never talk to strangers, to always go home on the bus with you big sister, Bonnie. And never EVER talk to strangers?

I bet you've never thought to pick this particular book off the shelf or at your school just because it was a itty bitty book or it wasn't romance or fantasy. It's a little kid's novel. It's stupid. "I know not to trust strangers."

Trust me, that was what I thought everytime I passed this book everyday for about month but I picked it up for Thanksgiving break because I thought it was going to be a quick read. I was right. It was: Two day read with many many breaks made by cousins and aunts and grandmas.

But I was also wrong. This was a lesson. This book was utterly awesome and well thought out. Could you imagine being abducted by your father? Or someone you've never met? Too bad Matt was kidnapped by both, his father and a complete stranger.

And trust me when I say it's a thinking book. When I went to bed the first night I had it, I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen to Matt and Bonnie and Pookie throughout the book. I wanted to know more about the abductor, Denny Thurman and his so very "valid" reasons for even thinking about abduction.

Whether you're thirtheen like me or five or seventy-four or twenty, you can read this book and learn something from all perspectives of this story: What it's like for the police officerr, witnesses, or any else really involved.

My rating: 8 out of 10

Jay