5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Twice Taken, December 10, 1999
This review is from: Twice Taken (Paperback)
In this 199 page book entitled Twice Taken, written by Susan Beth Pfeffer, sixteen year old, Amy Michelle Donovan (AKA) Brooke Eastman, has just found out that she was abducted out of her mothers custody by her father during one of his weekend visits when she was five years old. When deprived of a Saturday night out with her friends and the guy of her dreams she is stuck with baby-sitting two of the worst kids in the world. Without the ability of watching cable television she is obligated to watch network television against her own will. When tuning in on a show called Still Missing, she comes to find a picture of her father when he had a mustache and realized that the family on television was looking fro her. Not knowing what the consequences would be, she decides to call the 800 number at the bottom of the screen. Before she knows it she is answerig the door to a couple of police officers. Being escorted to the police station in the squad car she starts to doubt that she is actually Amy Michelle Donovan because she does not want to leave her father alone or get him into any legal troubles. Amy is left under the guardianship of Mrs. Markowitz, Amy's case worker, who put Amy into a foster home for the night until the morning, which was when she is supposed to meet her mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. Girard. Unable to speak to her father Amy starts to feel as if she does not know who she is anymore because of the two different lives that she is now living. As Amy Donovan is forced to live with her mother in Maryville, New Jersey, the Girards hometown, she must become accustomed to her new life style, which is differing in areas of family life to school to her grade level and to making new friends.
The important characters is Twice Taken are Amy Michelle Donovon (Brooke Eastman) who is trying to find her true self throughout the entire book. Other main characters are Mr. and Mrs. Girard, who are Amy's birth mother and step-father, whom have been looking for her for the past eleven years not knowing if she was dead or still alive. The final main character is Hal Eastman who is Amy's birth father and also the man who abducted her at the age of five. The one "golden line" that I wish that I had written is, "It's not a competition. I really think if you'd both give me the chance, I could love both of you." (Page 195) The reason that I wish that I could have written that sentence is because it is one of the only moments in the story that Amy actually gets a chance to express her feelings to her mother. She was able to express them without feeling as if she has to respect and watch out for every word that she says to her mother.
To me the cover of the book represent sixteen-year-old, Amy Michelle Donovan watching basic television and sighting the picture of her father on television hearing that she was abducted as a child and lied to for so many years. It shows her dialing the 800 number, which was being constantly shown at the bottom of her screen, calling the Still Missing hot-line. The title, Twice Taken, is symbolic to the way that she feels about her life. She describes being twice taken as first being kidnapped by her father as a child and second being abducted away from her father by her mother and step-father. By rating on this book is very high. If I were to give a score from one to ten: I would give it a ten plus. This story is full of suspense and keeps its reader under deep concentration. I would recommend this book to all of my peers because it is an interesting book to read for people who are into family values and the concept of family members sticking together.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A unique look at what it means to be a family, March 25, 2003
Susan Beth Pfeffer's Twice Taken carries overtones of Caroline B. Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton/Whatever Happened to Janie? and Norma Fox Mazer's Taking Terri Mueller, but it also carries a life of its own. The main thing that sets Twice Taken away from the other two books is that it is mostly about what happens after the discovery, not the actually getting to the truth. Brooke finds out very early that her father has kidnapped her and that her mother is still looking for her, the girl they call Amy Michelle Donovan. Pfeffer chooses to focus on what happens after her mother and stepfather take her back to live with them.
Twice Taken is told in the first person, which is fortunate because the reader would be having as big an identity crisis over Brooke/Amy as Brooke does if it were told in third. It's easy to see and understand Brooke's thoughts, but mostly Pfeffer does a good job of making us feel them. Most readers have never been in Brooke's situation, but they can relate strongly to jealous younger half-siblings, feeling left out, or being uncomfortable in a new school or situation.
Brooke goes through all the stages you'd expect of someone in that situation: at first, hatred of everything and everyone; then slowly trying to branch out at school, but failing because her story has been so sensationalized; trying to build a relationship with her half brother Tim, who was born after she was taken, and her half sister Holly, who was just a baby then; and mostly, trying to figure out how she feels about her mother. Hardest is her conflict with her parents: she is angry at the way her mother treats her, hovers, and slanders her father, but at the same time she's mad at her father for taking her and depriving her of the chance to get to know her mother.
One of the most likable characters, aside from Brooke, is her stepfather Mike. He's reasonable, patient, and a sensible stepfather to her, but at the same time his loyalties are of course with Brooke's mother. Tim and Holly are good foils: Holly is angry all the time and Tim is willing to accept his sister. At the same time, Holly's anger is understandable - her sister shows up after 11 years and gets all the attention, presents, a pet kitten, and a canopy bed.
Like Pfeffer's other novels, this one doesn't end happily. Brooke isn't allowed to go back to her father. She's still not comfortable at school, Holly still doesn't like her, and she's still not sure how to get to know her mother. At the same time, there is the final discussion between her and her mother, and the hope that they'll be able to have a relationship one day, one that isn't so forced. The best part is her mother's realization that she will have to accept and like Brooke, and not Amy, the lost child who has been missing for 11 years.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The BEST book I ever read!!, May 14, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Twice Taken (Paperback)
You have to read this book, it's the BEST. The book makes you start thinking about your own family. If you read this book I will bet you, you'll read it again.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
