Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Much like the previous post, I found Girl, Stolen by April Henry through Penny Kittle. However, it was a strange sort of recommendation. In her book, Book Love, Kittle essentially said that she had a hard time reading Girl, Stolen. Kittle's issue was not the quality of the narrative, but rather the subject matter.

She doesn't appear squeamish exactly, it's just that some subjects hit hard and, for Kittle, it seems that young girls kidnapped in a moment, not even on purpose, hits hard. That being said, Kittle mentioned the book in such a way that the title stuck in my head when I chanced upon it in a MacKay's Used Books in Chattanooga.

I read it over a four hour period one Saturday morning. It's not a long book and the plot isn't exactly convoluted. However, it is very well written. It's a YA novel that approaches a tough subject and tries to do so unflinchingly. It did a pretty good job of avoiding over-sentimentality while still making both the girl, Cheyanne, and the kidnapper, Griffin, sympathetic.

I liked this book. I would recommend this book. Clearly, Kittle and I have different baggage.