What Janie Found

Publishers Weekly

Cooney remains a master of the gossipy, insider-style narration, and she never tips her hand. The answer to What Janie Found will keep readers guessing all the way to the end.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Fans of the series may be reluctant to say good-bye to Janie Johnson, the unwitting kidnap victim whose efforts to deal with the trauma of her belated discovery of the circumstances surrounding her kidnapping have filled three riveting novels (beginning with The Face on the Milk Carton). Chances are they'll snap up this installment, which the publisher bills as the conclusion. Here Janie's "kidnap father," Frank Johnson, is gravely ill, and Janie, managing the accounting books while Mr. Johnson is in the hospital, discovers that all along he has been sending money to his birth daughter, Hannah--Janie's kidnapper. Janie feels betrayed, and so might the audience, given that an infallible character had found proof of Hannah's death in the preceding installment, The Voice on the Radio. After much gnashing of teeth and lengthy speculations by the major characters (Janie, boy-next-door Reeve and Janie's real brother Brian), they end up going to Colorado, where Hannah lives, because Janie wants to confront her. Conveniently, Janie and Brian's older brother attends college there and has only recently learned that his girlfriend happens to be the daughter of a retired FBI agent. Fortunately, the conflicts roil as hotly as the coincidences. While this novel is the weakest in the sequence, Cooney remains a master of the gossipy, insider-style narration, and she never tips her hand. The answer to "what Janie found" will keep readers guessing all the way to the end. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

What Janie Found is the fourth in the series where Janie saw her own face on a milk carton--a lost child, taken from her family when she was three. She felt uncomfortable with her birth parents and elected to stay with her adopted family. When her adopted father has a stroke, she is put in charge of the finances and finds a folder on her kidnapper, who is the real daughter, Hannah, of her adopted parents. Hannah kidnapped Janie, but, unable to take care of her, she brought Janie to her parents' and claimed she was their granddaughter. The material in the folder proves her father knew where Hannah lives and was sending her money. Janie is furious. She feels betrayed. Does she turn her adopted father in to the FBI? Janie sets out to find her kidnapper and demand answers. In the process she becomes closer to her real brothers and sees the value in doing the "right" thing by leaving the past behind. The people and their emotions are real as each one struggles to come to grips with how the kidnapping disrupted their lives. 2000, Delacorte Press, Ages 12 to 15, $15.95. Reviewer: Janet L. Rose

ALAN Review

Seventeen-year-old Janie Johnson, also known as Jennie Springs, has been at war for months with many things--her boyfriend Reeve; the mysterious Hannah Jevenson, who kidnapped Janie/Jennie as a baby; herself, as she tries to decide how badly she wants to pursue her search to learn more about the woman who made her a famous "kidnapee." Janie's two families--that of her birth parents and the family that adopted from the kidnapper--get along well, but her siblings come with their own troubles. Younger brother Brian must accept an obnoxious identical twin brother whom, at one time, he idolized and refused to be separated from. Older brother Stephen is trying to establish his own life in Colorado, far away from being part of the family of the kidnapped and returned girl. And the birth mother, Miranda Johnson, stays by her own husband's side as he battles for his life after a devastating stroke. Numerous characters dance in and out of this novel, a smart final sequel to three other books about Janie. Using multiple viewpoints to express character perceptions, this easy to read mystery will appeal to adolescents who like intriguing human relationship stories. Genre: Mystery/Identity. 2000, Delacorte Press, Ages 12 up, $15.95. Reviewer: Anne Sherrill

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9-Cooney continues the story of Janie Johnson, which began in The Face on the Milk Carton (Delacorte, 1996). When her "adopted" father suffers a heart attack and a stroke, Janie must pay the bills. She finds a file labeled "H. J." with a checkbook inside. "H. J." is Hannah Javensen-her "adopted" parents' daughter-the woman who kidnapped her years before. Most disturbing is that her father has secretly known Hannah's whereabouts for years and has apparently been supporting her. Filled with anger, Janie decides to find Hannah in Boulder, CO, where, coincidentally, her biological brother Steve goes to college. With her ex-boyfriend Reeve, who betrayed her in Voice on the Radio (Delacorte, 1996), and younger brother Brian, Janie concocts a plan to get to Boulder. The plot revolves around the protagonist's conflicting emotions. One part of her wants to pore over the file and get all the facts; another part can barely look. One part would like to forgive Reeve; another cannot. She is also torn about wanting to confront Hannah and, at the same time, wanting to stop being her victim. Janie's solution is to pay off her kidnapper in full, thus cutting all future ties with her. In doing so, she is symbolically free. While this title is not as taut or compelling as the earlier works, and the plot may be confusing for newcomers, fans of the series will be glad to see this latest installment.-Roxanne Burg, Thousand Oaks Library, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

BookPage

Readers who followed Janie's trail from the first discovery of her real family to her final decision about which name to use are in for even more revelations in What Janie Found.