Cooney, C. (1990). The Face on the Milk Carton. New York: Bantam Books.Summary
Janie sees a milk carton in the school cafeteria and recognizes her face as the missing toddler on the back of the carton. This leads her to a path of discovery about her past and where she comes from. She is the missing girl on the milk box and discovers that the people she thought were her parents are actually the grandparents of a woman who kidnapped her and then disappeared. Janie must choose whether to contact her real family and worries about the consequences to those she loves from this decision.
My Impressions
While I enjoyed the premise of this book, I felt like Cooney's resolution was a convenient cop-out in handling a difficult problem. Part of the conflict in this novel was whether Janie should turn in her parents for kidnapping her even though she loved them. She felt connected to her home but also compelled by the life she could be leading and the family she never knew. By creating the character of a long-lost daughter in a cult who had kidnapped Janie and then left her with the unknowing grandparents, Cooney conveniently sidesteps this moral controversy and creates a loophole in the storyline that grants Janie permission to love everyone. I felt tricked as a result of this fancy footwork and though I would like to know what happens to Janie, I don't feel compelled to finish this series because of some distrust of the author. It's an interesting subject to think about, I just left this book wishing that the resolution to Janie's dilemma was more compelling. On an interesting side note, this book has faced banning challenges due to sexual content and the questioning of authority figures. I didn't find the sexual content to be in any way prominent and was surprised that this book would be challenged.
Professional Reviews
Gr 7-10-- The message on the milk carton reads, "Have you seen this child?'' Three-year-old Jennie Spring was kidnapped 12 years earlier, but Janie Johnson, looking at the photo, suddenly knows that she is that child. Fragments of memory and evidence accumulate, and when she demands to know about her early childhood years, her parents confess what they believe to be true, that she is really their grandchild, the child of their long-missing daughter who had joined a cult. Janie wants to accept this, but she cannot forget Jennie's family and their loss. Finally, almost against her will, she seeks help and confides in her parents. Her mother insists that she call the Spring family, and the book ends as she calls them. Many young people fantasize about having been adopted or even kidnapped, but the decisions Janie must face are painful and complex, and she experiences denial, anger, and guilt while sorting her way toward a solution. Janie's boyfriend--sensible, funny, with problems of his own--is an excellent foil for her intensity. Their romance is natural and believable. Cooney again demonstrates an excellent ear for dialogue and a gift for protraying responsible middle-class teenagers trying to come to terms with very real concerns. A good choice for readers of Norma Fox Mazer's Taking Terri Muller (Morrow, 1983). --School Library Journal; Tatiana Castleton, Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library, CA; 2010. (Retrieved from http://catalog.lapl.org/carlweb/)
Up to her fifteenth year, the most Jane Johnson had to worry about was her boring name. She loved her parents, despite their overly cautious approach toward her growing up; had friends; and generally liked herself. Then the picture of a missing child on a school milk carton triggers flashbacks to long-buried memories of Jane as a child--the milk carton child, in fact. Is she the missing Jennie Spring, snatched from her family years before? Or is she simply Jane, who doesn't like her name? There's a good bit of melodrama in the plot (a cult-influenced mother and a pair of nervous grandparents hiding from the Hare Krishna), as well as a sort of half-baked romance. But Cooney does not give in to facile resolutions, and her depiction of Jane's personal quandary, while not rendered with depth, seems real enough as it follows the girl's struggle to make sense of what's happened and to balance her feelings for the couple she knows as her parents with her curiosity about the family to which she once belonged. Gr. 7-10. --Booklist; Stephanie Zvirin, Accessed 2010. (Retrieved from http://catalog.lapl.org/carlweb/)
The picture of a missing child printed on a milk carton attracts the attention of 15-year-old Jane Johnson. A glimpse of the girl's polka-dot dress causes memories to surface, and Jane begins to review her past and question her true identity. It is nearly impossible for Jane to perceive her loving parents as kidnappers; the task of gathering evidence and drawing conclusions proves less difficult than confronting the undeniable truth. As the novel ends, Jane has found the courage to contact her real parents, but Cooney cleverly leaves the events that follow to readers' imaginations. Although the book's plot is based largely on coincidences, Cooney's skilled writing makes even the most unlikely events seem plausible. The roller-coaster ride Jane experiences with her emotions is both absorbing and convincing. Strong characterizations and suspenseful, impeccably-paced action add to this novel's appeal. Ages 12-up. --Publishers Weekly; March 1990. (Retrieved from http://catalog.lapl.org/carlweb/)
This book might be recommended to a teenager who enjoys mysteries and comes to the library looking for more recommendations. I'm not a huge fan of this book but would not discount it entirely as a part of Reader's Advisory. The good thing is that if a teenager enjoys this book, they can continue reading about Janie's story in three subsequent novels.
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SLIS 5420/Module 9
Mystery
October 18-24, 2010
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