I had to read this for a book for a book report and I didn't want to read it but then i got around to reading it and couldn't stop. It was a good book and I'm glad that I had to read this book. It was a page turner. ( )

It was very suspenseful. You never knew what was around the corner. ( )

I didn't like the ending... It destroyed the entire book for me. The character of Janie is undeveloped and annoying! Not pleased with the writing style of Caroline B. Clooney... I expected more from her.

A young girl's kinda-boring life gets all to exciting when she sees her own face staring back at her from a milk carton.

I must say, this book surprised me. I was expecting something quick and shallow, but Cooney packed an awful lot into this teensy little package. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Cooney's sparse, simplistic prose works perfectly with this story. Janie is scared and confused. She can't focus on anything except the situation at hand. She's disconnected from everyone around her, and Cooney's style forces the reader into the same state of mind. We feel Janie's fear, her relief and her uncertainty as she uncovers each new piece of the puzzle. The writing is occasionally stilted, and there are a few turns of phrase that just scream kiddie lit, but for the most part it's very well done.

I also got a big kick out of all the twists and turns. Lately, I've had a few issues with books and predictability. I know an awful lot of stories, and I can usually guess exactly how things will turn out. It's frustrating. I suppose I ought to have guessed some of the twists herein, but I didn't. They threw me for a loop. Now that I've finished the book, I can see that Cooney does follow a few well-known stories, but she still manages to keep this story vibrant. She tricked me, and she did it by making me connect with Janie. If I'd been a distanced, impartial reader, I'd have seen straight through the smoke and mirrors--but I wasn't, so I didn't. it's very well done.

I definitely recommend this. It's an itsy bitsy little thing, but it packs quite a nice punch.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

This is a story of a fifteen year-old girl named Janie whose life changes the moment she see's a familiar face on a milk carton. One day when Janie was eating lunch with her friends she notcied a milk carton that had a missing child report on it. The closer she looked, the more she realized that the little girl on the carton was her. Or at least she thought. Janie soon began to investigate this issue by rummaging through her "so-called" families attic where she finds a dress that is identical to the one in the missing persons photo. She also comes across a box which says "HANNAH" on it. She had never heard her parents discuss this names before which began to worry her even more. As the story continues, she finally approaches her mother and father about the issue and they respond by a convincing story. Janie still found herself wondering about the truth in their whole story which lead to further investigation. Eventually Janie looks up the family who put the add on the carton and finds quickly that she has much in common with the other children playing outside... ( )

The Face on the Milk Carton is about a girl who's name is Janie Johnson and is a a fifteen year old who is having lunh with her friends and suddenly sees a girl on a milk carton and says that its herbut her friends dont belive her. So then she tries to figure out whats the truth and her parents tell her that they are her grandparents and says that her mom was in a cult and wanted her to have a normal life so they raised her. So then she doen't believe her and goes to New Jersey wiht her boy friend Reeve and sees red heads and she assumes that they are her brothers because she has red hair. Later her boyfriend tells his sister and they think that her "mom" kidnapped her becuse she was lonley. At the end she sends a letter by accident and calls her real family. ( )

This book is about following clues to find the truth. In this mystery, Janie wishes she were some more fascinating person onlt to find out that she was kidnaped when she was 3. She searches for her real family behind her current family's back. She keeps this all a secret and it makes her sick. She entrusts her one friend Reeve with her secret and he helps her. the truth finally comes out in the end and Janie who is really Jennie calls her real family to let them know she's alive and well.

Vaguely remember reading this as a kid. I think I liked it then. Sensationalist stuff - girl finds out she's secretly a missing child who was stolen from her parents by the people she considers to be her real parents. ( )

Janie is sixteen and loves her friends and parents, raised with everything she could want. She is tired of drinking milk. but being lactose intolerant she picks milk one day, and it will by chance her life, The girl on the back in the missing picture looks a lot like her and she remembers the dress and starts to have flash backs of her former life, She also decides she loves her parents that raised her to much to turn them in. ( )

Janie loves her parents. But when she sees her own picture as a missing child on a milk carton, she needs to find out what happened and who she really is. ( )

Janie has a pretty nice life until one day she sees a face on the milk carton of a child that looks familiar, then the dress looks familiar. She discovers she was kidnapped and adopted and the people she thinks of as her parents are not her real parents.

I read this back in elementary school. It was a really good book from what I remember. Story about a young child who is abducted. The woman who adopts her convinces everyone that its her child but then leaves her with her parents. The girl grows up thinking that these people are her grandparents and her grandparents honestly believe that this is their granddaughter. Good book for a young reader. I believe they also made it a movie. ( )

Dated and stilted writing but the premise is a good one. ( )

Grown girl recovering her past. Researching and discovering what she has become and what has happpened to her.

Janie's been satisfies with her life so far. She has good friends and loves her parents. So when she sees a face of a missing little girl on a milk carton and realizes that it's her, she doesn't know what to think. Are her parents kidnappers? Why does she keep having flashbacks of a former family? When she finds a family in New Jersey that could be hers, she's not sure what to do. She loves her parents too much to turn them in. But maybe there's a different explanation. ( )

Cooney's masterful.

Teen suspense and mystery

as Janie seeks truth.

An interesting premise. The ending took me kind of by surprise, although the fact that there is a sequel (and then some) makes more sense now. It does read like a teen/young adult book, and I may have enjoyed it more had I read it at that age. Still, rather enjoyable. Not yet sure if I'll read the sequel or not...?! ( )

Megan Reed
EDCI 4120
7/12/08
Cooney, C (1990). The face on the milk carton. New York: Bantam Book.
Grade Levels: 7-12
Category: Realistic Fiction
Read-Alouds: pp 1-12(Sees herself on milk carton); pp. 79-92(Janie asks her parents about not having baby pictures & not letting her see her birth certificate); pp. 168-184(Janie loses letter addressed to her real parents & the people who raised her find out that she wasn’t their grand daughter after all.)
Summary: Janie is almost sixteen and she is so tired of drinking juice, she wants milk! She is lactose intolerant but one day at the lunch table she takes her friends milk and drinks. Looking back at her from the carton is a little girl that she recognizes. It was her and she was kidnapped. It was from years ago but she remembers the dress. She loves the parents that raised her. She doesn’t think they possibly could have kidnapped her. She confronts them about not having any baby pictures and she asks why they wont let her see her birth certificate. They tell her about their daughter Hannah. When Hannah was sixteen she ran away to join the Hare Krishna’s. Years ago Hannah showed up with a little girl and she wanted her parents to raise Janie. Janie Struggles with this because she knows that she was kidnapped she has seen the face on the milk carton and she went to New Jersey to see the family that is looking for their lost girl. She thinks the people that raised her are lying. It turns out that Hannah kidnapped Janie from a shopping center and gave her to her parents.
Themes: There are several themes in this book. One theme would have to be kidnapping and the toll it takes on all people involved. Another theme in this book is daydreams. From the beginning Janie daydreams about being someone else with a different name. Then later in the book she has daymares about her kidnapping. The biggest theme in this book was keeping secrets. The people that raised her never told her about their daughter Hannah. Janie knows that she was kidnapped and she doesn’t say anything to the people that raised her about it. She doesn’t tell any of her best friends either, mostly because she is afraid of what will happen to the people who raised her. She does tell her neighbor about it but he doesn’t like to talk about it.
Discussion Questions: With all the stress Janie had from keeping secrets, could she have kept it in the rest of her life to protect the people who raised her? Why don’t her friends notice a change in Janie? How do the daymares help Janie unravel the truth?
Reader Response: I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and the story line. I also like Janie’s relationship with all the characters especially the relationship with her neighbor. I was getting a little bored in the middle of the book because the truth wasn’t coming out fast enough for me. Janie ended up practically staying in her daydreams towards the end of the book and it was getting boring because she just kept on repeating the same daydream and worrying about the same stuff. I thought her reaction to the people that raised her was very appropriate. She was so worried about what would happen to them and she didn’t want to be raised by her real parents.

Andrea Tuttle
EDCI 4120/5120

Cooney, C. (1990). The Face on the Milk Carton. New York: Bantam Books

Grade Levels: 7th – 9th graders
Category: Realistic Fiction
Read-Alouds: pages 1-12 (Janie at school finding the milk carton picture), 54-62 (going to a football game and dealing with the emotions of being kidnapped), 80-87 (confronting her parents about the kidnapping), 151-157 (figuring out the legalities involved with the situation).

Summary:
Janie Johnson is a fifteen year-old girl who has a regular life attending high school and wants her driver's license. While at lunch one day, she grabs a friend's milk carton even though she is lactose intolerant. She recognizes the "missing person" photo on the back of the milk carton as herself when she was younger wearing a black and white polka dot dress. The milk carton says Jennie Spring was kidnapped from a New Jersey mall when she was three years old. She spends a lot of time researching the Spring baby kidnapping. She can’t accept the fact that her parents would have kidnapped her. Janie and her boyfriend Reeve skip school to go to New Jersey to see the Spring family with their own eyes. Janie panics when she sees that the entire family has the same red hair that Janie has. She spends time at school and home writing the Spring family a letter, but she doesn't mail the letter because she is still unsure about what to do. The letter comes up missing and she decides to tell her boyfriend’s sister who is studying to be a lawyer. They decide they should tell her parents and her mother makes a phone call that changes Janie’s life.

Themes:
One of the biggest themes of this book is self-identity. Every teenager at one point seems to think they were adopted. This seems to have become the reality of one teenager which turns out to be a nightmare for her. She struggles through most of the book with the reality of what happened to her and whether or not she should let anyone else know.

Discussion Questions:
How would you feel if you found out you were kidnapped?
What would be the first step you would take to tell your parents what had happened?
Describe your fears of being kidnapped as a child?

Reader Response:
This book was really an easy read and a good book. The author spent a great deal of time describing the inner thoughts of what is going on in Janie’s brain. It is one of those books that are so much better than a movie could be because of the lack of inner thought in a movie. Janie has a lot to deal with and doesn’t really seek help, other than her boyfriend Reeve. This obsession that she starts to deal with becomes all-consuming and takes over many of her normal day-to-day activities.

One morning Janie is sitting down to eat her cereal and discovers to her absolute astonishment that she is on a milk carton. This story relates her journey to finding her natural parents. The book is part of a series, each book being just as good as the others. ( )

Wow! A great book! I was recommended to read this by a friend and I couldn't put it down till I finished! Can't wait to read the sequel! I would recommend this book to everybody! ( )

Great book. Part of series.

Read by Jamie, Summer 2006:
"The intended reading level is age 10 and up, but the story line is built a highschool age girl. A brief summary of the plot (without giving anything away) includes a 15 year old girl with perfect parents, who one day discovers her face on a milk carton. It is a picture of her when she was around 3 1/2. From there she spends the remainder of the book trying to figure out if she was kidnapped by her parents, and whether or not she should tell someone or try to contact the other couple. Also...she just happens to fall in love with her nextdoor neighbor. The themes that this book could be based on are family and truth. Janie struggled from the very beginning finding how she fit into her family. Secondly, truth was hanging over the entire plot, it could have changed the entire ending of the story if it were avoided, and her parents lied to her."

This is a story about a girl in high school who thinks her life is just right until she recognizes a picture of a little girl on the back of a milk carton. That picture is of her when she was little. So then the questions start. She confides in her boyfriend and then has it out with her "parents". She finally finds out the truth and who she thought were her parents are NOT! They keep lying while she asks many questions. Finally because they have no choice, they explain everything and she finds out that her "real" parents live close, and how it all came about. She goes to meet them and stays with them but is very confused at what to do. This is based on a true story with drama and suspense! Source: Me I read this book years ago. i loved it then and still do now. ( )

This book is about a girl named Janie. One day she picked up a milk carton and it said somebody’s name close to hers. Janie had been thinking her parents kidnapped her before she saw the milk carton. One day Janie asked her parents questions like, “why don't I have any baby pictures or a birth certificate”, they told her that they were her grandparents not her parents. Janie's real mother Hannah left her with them when she was little because she was caught up in a party and she had been running from them and wanted to go back. What they told her wasn't as much as necessary and Janie knew that was not it. She had been having bad dreams at night about her real family. One day her and Reeve drove to New Jersey and looked up Springs. There was no Hannah, but there was Springs. Later in the story she was learning more and found out that Hannah had kidnapped her because she was lonely. She left Janie with her mother and father so they can raise Janie on their own. ( )