Stolen
By Lucy Christopher
Gemma is a British teenager, growing up in London. In the Bangkok airport, on her way to Vietnam, she is drugged and stolen by a young man named Ty. Taken to the Australian outback, away from everything she holds dear, Gemma is desperate to escape. But over the weeks that she is stuck in the middle of nowhere with Ty, Gemma begins to understand that her kidnapper has a painful past and a sensitive, loving side.
Stolen, a Michael L. Printz honor book, is written from Gemma’s point of view, as a letter to her kidnapper. Gemma shares with her kidnapper everything she felt for him during their time in the Australian outback, from fear to rage to… compassion. I got a strong sense for the emotional turmoil Gemma experiences throughout her time with Ty. In fact, my emotions as a reader were confused about Ty! I detested him for kidnapping her. I liked him for not hurting Gemma in any way physically. I disliked his mood swings. I felt compassion for him because of his past. In summary, Lucy Christopher did an excellent job in conveying Gemma’s confusion. The emotional confusion comes to a climax at the end of the book, and readers are left to ponder, with Gemma, whether her feelings for Ty are grounded or are a display of Stockholm syndrome.
This is a fast but fascinating read. At times the pace of the story seems slow-- a lot of time is spent on Gemma's ideas and plans for escape. However, readers will enjoy experiencing the rugged beauty of the Australian outback and will be riveted by Gemma’s predicament. I would not, however, recommend reading Stolen right before bed (unless you don’t mind spending hours musing over characters in a book instead of sleeping).
Check it out!
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