Stolen

The Bibliography
Christopher, Lucy. 2010. Stolen. New York: Chicken House. ISBN 9780545170932

The Plot
While Gemma is at a coffee shop in an airport in Bangkok, waiting on a flight to Vietnam with her parents, she is approached by a handsome man named Ty who offers to buy her a drink. Little does Gemma know that Ty has been watching her, stalking her, since she was a little girl. He has been planning for quite some time to steal her away from the big city and take her to his home in the Australian outback. He drugs her there in the airport and kidnaps her, taking her to the middle of Sandy Desert in Australia where he has made his home. Throughout Gemma's ordeal, Ty treats her well, says he loves her, and shows her compassion, but she wants nothing more than to escape. After she manages to steal the key to Ty's car, Gemma leaves the house in the middle of the desert, only to get lost and nearly die. Ty nurses her back to health, and during this, she finds that she cares for Ty. Wandering off to find him one morning, Gemma is bitten by a death adder, and Ty must take her to the hospital, which also means he must return his captive and reveal himself as a kidnapper. Because he cares so greatly for Gemma, Ty does this and is taken to jail. Written in a letter to Ty, Stolen ends with Gemma learning about Stockholm Syndrome and wondering if she actually suffers from the condition or if she really loves Ty.

The Analysis
At first, I didn't really get into Stolen. Something about the second person YOU just didn't sit right with me, but I suppose that's because it's not the most popular way to write a novel. I also didn't like that there were no chapters, but as it's written as a letter, I don't suppose there would be chapters, would there? After I got used to the second person and thought breaks, I began to enjoy the novel more. It may seem silly, but I didn't realize that there were huge deserts with camels in Australia. Reading Stolen made me want to visit the outback and see these red desert sands and black-trunked trees. I really felt like I was isolated with Gemma in the desert the farther I made it into the book, and I suppose that's a good thing when reading a book about a different culture... feeling like you're really there and not feeling confused or not understanding something. I wish there had been some more closure at the end of the novel, though. I wish I could have seen Ty's trial, but maybe that's just because I like watching Law and Order....

The Review
Rachelle Bilz (VOYA, June 2010 (Vol. 33, No. 2)) Sixteen-year-old Londoner Gemma Toombs is drugged and abducted from Bangkok’s airport while on holiday with her parents. After charming twenty-something Ty buys her coffee, Gemma is dazed until she wakes up in a bedroom. Ty takes Gemma to the Australian outback, many miles from civilization. Gemma, furious, tries various means to escape Ty, but all prove futile. A nearly fatal run into the desert convinces Gemma to stay put. Over time, Gemma learns Ty’s story. His horrible childhood was filled with abandonment and abuse. Gemma is chilled to learn that Ty has stalked her since she was ten; he loves Gemma and wants her to appreciate the land like he does. After a month, Gemma trusts Ty and feels sorry for this young man who screams and cries while asleep. Stolen is an atypical abduction story in that both Gemma and the reader begin to understand and care for Ty. Imprisonment, not sexual or physical abuse, is the crime here. The opposite of the Beast in the fairy tale, Ty is ugly on the inside. His demons come out at night in dreams and only occasionally manifest themselves in anger. Like Gemma, the reader almost feels sorry for Ty, a good person who is damaged. Written as Gemma’s letter to Ty, Stolen has a veracity and immediacy that rivets the reader to the page. Vivid descriptions of the Sandy Desert combine with Gemma’s emotional turmoil to evoke a sense of danger. This fascinating, disturbing novel should appeal to teens fourteen and older. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12).

The Connection
Since the theme for the Summer Reading Club for teens this year is You Are Here, all of the books on the reading list will fit in well. This would be a great book to share with my teens about Australia. In fact, if I haven't put this on my summer teen display which features books with settings outside of the United States already, I will do it soon.

Outside of SRC, I think I'd share this book with my teens, then have them read Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. We could discuss the similarities and differences between the kidnappings and the victims of each story.