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    Girl, Stolen: A Novel
    Girl, Stolen: A Novel
    Girl, Stolen: A Novel
    Ebook233 pages3 hours

    Girl, Stolen: A Novel

    By April Henry

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Cheyenne, a blind sixteen year-old, is kidnapped and held for ransom; she must outwit her captors to get out alive.

    Sixteen year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of a car while her mom fills her prescription at the pharmacy. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, their car is being stolen--with her inside! Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne, all he needed to do was steal a car for the others.

    But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes—now there's a reason to keep her. What Griffin doesn't know is that Cheyenne is not only sick with pneumonia, she is blind. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare, and if she does, at what price?

    Prepare yourself for a fast-paced and hard-edged thriller full of nail-biting suspense.

    This title has Common Core connections.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateSep 28, 2010
    ISBN9781429950039
    Girl, Stolen: A Novel
    Author

    April Henry

    April Henry is the New York Times bestselling author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including the YA novels Girl, Stolen and The Night She Disappeared, and the thriller Face of Betrayal, co-authored with Lis Wiehl. She lives in Oregon.

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    Reviews for Girl, Stolen

    4/5

    242 ratings41 reviews

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    • 4/5
      April Henry's YA mysteries are intriguing. "Girl, Stolen" is based on a news story, so although it seems far fetched, part of it was based on real events. I love a strong female protagonist and a book I can genuinely recommend to high school students.
    • 3/5
      "Girl, Stolen" had an exciting premise, but the book itself was disappointing. It lacked the tension and suspense it should have had. However, I liked Cheyenne's narration. She was a very relatable character, despite being blind, and her actions and reactions during her kidnapping were believable. Even though I liked Cheyenne, my favourite character was Griffin. He was basically a good guy despite his horrible father and being raised into a life of crime. Even though he unintentionally kidnapped Cheyenne, I liked how he protected her from the other men. As for the end, it was a bit light and unrealistic for my liking.
    • 3/5
      I received this book for free as a review copy from the Goodreads First Reads program. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.I thoroughly enjoyed Girl, Stolen and read the bulk of it in one sitting. What initially drew me to the book was the cover art. I really like the symbolism of the little girl covering her eyes, most of us do it when afraid, but for the heroine of the story it is something she must live with every day as a blind person. Cheyenne does find herself in a terrifying situation, she is kidnapped and held captive by four men, but she has no need to cover her eyes since an accident has caused her to lose her sight. She must rely on her intelligence and her other senses in order to make it out alive.I think this is a very gripping young adult novel and young people will find a character they can relate to in Cheyenne Wilder. While I didn't find this to be a life-changing novel myself, in my opinion this book is best suited for its intended audience of teenagers (some YA books can cross this line while others do not), it definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things that I didn't know about blind people. I think it is a worthy read (for anyone) for the insight it offers into the life of someone who is living without their sight.
    • 4/5
      16 year old Cheyenne isn't feeling great due to the fact that she has pneumonia, so she convinces her step mother to leave the keys in the car and run into the drugstore to fill Cheyenne's antibiotic prescription on her own. Griffin has no idea, when he steals the car that someone was dumb enough to leave the keys to, that 16 year old Cheyenne is asleep in the back seat, or that she's blind, or that her father is a very, very important man. Girl Stolen is fast paced, and really makes the reader feel like they are blind along with Cheyenne. She's a character who is easy to admire because she's honest and gutsy. I definitely enjoyed this story, and will look for more from this author.
    • 4/5
      I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, but every time I see it in the store, I always passed it by. I'm not really sure why. I thought I might not like it, and even at times convinced myself it would be boring! But how could a book about a blind girl being kidnapped be boring? I'm sure it could be, but this was not the case for April Henry's GIRL, STOLEN, and I am so glad this was gifted to me during the Summer Book Exchange.

      This book was fantastic. It had so many elements that I love about a book, plus so many more that I had never experienced before. I am a huge fan of suspense and thrillers and Henry absolutely delivered on that front. The fact that this was grounded in reality freaked me out. GIRL, STOLEN also had a wonderful cast of colorful characters that made the story seem very real. It was also touching at times, reliving Cheyenne's injuries and recovery and the loss of her mother.


      GIRL, STOLEN doesn't pull any punches when it comes to action. Immediately, as soon as the book starts, we are thrown into the story. Within the first pages, Cheyenne is kidnapped. She is also blind. Before reading this book I had always assumed that blindness (and deafness and the like) were to be considered handicaps and disadvantages, but Henry, through Cheyenne, taught me so much more. While Cheyenne couldn't see, she could perceive the world around her very differently from everyone else, and I would say even more usefully. She could tell what direction she was facing, she could hear things better than everyone else, she noticed little things that people who are sighted wouldn't necessarily notice. While her blindness did hinder her a little bit, she didn't let it stop her.


      We were also allowed into the head of Cheyenne's kidnapper, Griffin. He had only meant to steal the car, seeing the keys left in the ignition was like a gift from God to him. So when he climbed into the front seat of the Escalade, he had no idea what was in store for him over the next couple days. Griffin grew up in a terrible home environment full of criminals and drunks. His father was an alcoholic and an abusive parent and Griffin's mom had abandoned them ages ago. Griffin became a very sympathetic character at times, even when he had to do terrible things like tie Cheyenne to a bed or threaten her with a weapon.


      I also loved the back story we got with Cheyenne. She was injured in a car wreck that killed her mother and caused Cheyenne's blindness. She also suffered massive bodily injuries. We got to follow her on her road to physical and emotional recovery. The scenes with Cheyenne's father was heart wrenching, and I could feel their desolation and hopelessness. I wasn't sure how Cheyenne would be able to climb out of her depression. It was touching.


      GIRL, STOLEN was at times a heart-stopping thriller. It was also a story of forgiveness, and recovery, and hope, and family. It is a quick read at about 200 pages, and I would definitely recommend it to those looking for a suspenseful thriller with sympathetic, lovable characters.
    • 5/5
      I found the concept of telling the story from the point of view of the main character, who happens to be blind, intriguing. The amount of detail that April Henry put into this novel made it very easy for the reader to picture what was happening throughout the novel. 'Girl, Stolen' was a quick, but enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels that are suspenseful and thrilling.
    • 5/5
      I admit that GIRL, STOLEN didn't immediately catch my eye. It wasn't until a few trustworthy sources recommended it to me that I really gave it a second thought... The description was, for lack of a better term, cheesy. Luckily, my friends are wise and convinced me to to set aside my first impression because GIRL, STOLEN's quick-witted heroine is definitely worth meeting.My favorite aspect of GIRL, STOLEN was most definitely Cheyenne. My younger sister is visually-impaired, though not to the extent of our main character, and the author's descriptions rang true. Cheyenne is a strong, smart young woman that's easy to connect with and even easier to be inspired by. I'm excited to share this novel with my sister, in hopes that she too will find some inspiration in Cheyenne's perseverance and strength. I suppose there was a slight romantic plot line, but I wouldn't classify this novel as romance. It was hinted at, but wasn't of any major consequence.Parts of GIRL, STOLEN may be predictable and there isn't much time for in depth development of the secondary characters, but this novel is still a 5-star in my book based solely on the clever main character.
    • 3/5
      The premise of the book is straightforward: Cheyanne, a teenager who's been blind since a tragic car accident three years ago, is sleeping in her step-mother's SUV while her step-mother picks up Cheyanne's medication for pneumonia, when the SUV is stolen -- with Cheyanne in the back seat. Kidnapped, sick, and seemingly helpless, Cheyanne will have to use all of her other senses to escape from her kidnappers and save herself. Although the unintentional kidnappers underestimate her due to her blindness, they still take precautions like tying her up, not using names around her, and so on. When it's discovered she's the daughter of a wealthy businessman, things take a turn for the worse. As exciting as the book could have been, I felt that it never really took off the way it could have. Cheyanne spends a great deal of the book tied up, though she does take action when the opportunities present themselves. That said, I found that on an emotional level, something was lacking. I didn't feel terrified for Cheyanne's safety, and considering the circumstances, I should have been on the edge of my seat the whole time. That visceral element of fear, horror, and terror simply never came, and I'm not sure why. That said, because it doesn't dig as far as it could into the severity of what's happening, this is a YA novel that could be given to younger readers on the YA spectrum (I'm thinking 12+) and provoke good discussion between parent and child without traumatizing the young teen.Decent, but I wish there'd been more to it.
    • 3/5
      A fast read - realistic details about a carjacking that turns into an accidental kidnapping! Cheyenne Wilder, blind after a blow to the head from a terrible car accident, is a typical teen girl in some ways, but her blindness for the past three years has honed her other senses. Taken by accident by Griffin, another teenager who has learned how to make ends meet by helping his dad run a chop shop, taking cars at auction or less legal means, Cheyenne becomes part of a bigger plan, to charge a ransom from her Nike excecutive father. As Cheyenne learns more about Roy, Griffin's dad, and his two other sleazy co-workers, she becomes convinced she won't be returned or even released - these men will kill her once they retrieve the ransom money. Cheyenne and Griffin's mindset, dialogue are realistic, and a couple plot twists near the end prove feasible enough to keep my interest. Definitely recommended for teen readers (guys or girls) who want a plot driven, "teen in danger" type story coimng in at a bit over 200 pages.
    • 5/5
      I wish I had written this review as soon as I finished the book! This book was really just fantastic. I loved the idea of the story and how it was carried out. Cheyenne was brave and strong, and Griffin learned to be those things because of her. I didn't want to put this story down! I need to find some of Henry's previous books because I really enjoyed this one so much.
    • 4/5
      In reading Girl, Stolen, I was reminded of two bits of pop culture: Excess Baggage and Wait Until Dark. The first film, a pretty terrible movie starring Alicia Silverstone and Antonio Banderas, tells the story of a poor little rich girl who, in an effort to get daddy's attention, fakes a kidnapping by locking herself in a car's trunk, only to have that car actually stolen. Then she cooks up a romance and a scheme with her accidental captor. Wait Until Dark, quite differently focuses on a blind woman, played by Audrey Hepburn who some thugs suspect of having a doll stuffed with drugs. She has to try to escape this situation with her life. Put these two together and you've sort of got Girl, Stolen.

      Of course, comparing a book to other stories really limits it, so I want to stress that there's more going on here; in making these comparisons, I do not intend to imply that Henry's story is entirely derivative by any means. Henry did a marvelous job telling this story, keeping everything suspenseful and scary, but not venturing into melodramatic territory in the slightest. She does not try to make anything more difficult than it already is for the sake of extra drama.

      So much YA that I've read, usually in the paranormal genre, centers on a heroine, gifted with supernatural powers that enable her to do absolutely anything, yet she still ends up relying on other people to save her. Your powers or your weaknesses are only what you allow them to be. Cheyenne has been blind since an accident three years ago damaged her brain, leaving her with functioning eyes but a mind unable to read the messages. Now almost entirely blind, she relies on her cane or her seeing eye dog, Phantom.

      On the day in question, Cheyenne's step-mom convinced Cheyenne the dog should stay home, since they were not going very far. While her step-mother went into the pharmacy to get the antibiotics to treat Cheyenne's pneumonia, Cheyenne rested in the backseat. Then the car got stolen. Griffin had no idea she was in the car, but, once he got home to his piece of shit father, she becomes even more useful to them than the jacked Escalade. Cheyenne's father runs Nike corporation, and she can be ransomed for a lot of money.

      In this situation, I cannot imagine I would be capable of anything other than some snarky comebacks and some seriously menacing death glares. Cheyenne, sick with pneumonia, running a fever, tiny, and blind never stops planning escapes. She is such an incredibly powerful character, able to make the best of any situation, and to use her strengths to best advantage. Where some heroines have endless amounts of power and don't use it, Cheyenne makes the most out of everything she has. I respect her so much, and Henry for writing a heroine with a disability and not making her pitiable, but a figure of strength.

      Girl, Stolen weighs in at only 220 pages, but packs an emotional punch. Dark, scary, and investigating whether Griffin is a redeemable figure, I was sucked into this novel and not let go until I finished the last page. If you're tired of young adult fiction focused on romance and whiny heroines, Girl, Stolen is the perfect break.
    • 5/5
      I love this book soooo much it's one of the best books ever!! I think its a good book for matre children.I think its just an amazing i have read it 2 times and I'm not sick of it ans I would love to read it again!!
    • 4/5
      It could be this book suffered in my estimation because I read it immediately after Miles From Ordinary which was just exceptional, but I also thought it compared unfavorably to What Happened to Cass McBride? Though there are compelling elements to the story of the accidental kidnapping of a blind teenager who turns out to be the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, there are too many elements toward the end that do not pass the smell test. The book has a strong opening, and Henry does a great job portraying Cheyenne's experiences as a newly blind teen. Griffin is a strong character, though less compelling than Cheyenne, and the big revelation about his family history was no surprise to this reader. The first two-thirds of this novel made for a great read, but the last third was disappointing in its treatment of the characters. 3.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      This was a great book about a girl who is inadvertently kidnapped during a carjacking by a young boy. He doesn't realize she's in the car when he steals it to impress his father who, with the help of two other miscreants, runs a chop shop of sorts out of their backyard. It isn't long before he learns that she is blind. He plans to let her go but when his father realizes that she's the daughter of the Nike President, he decides to keep her.This was a great story of perseverance and hope. April Henry writes beautiful characters out of Cheyenne and her accidental kidnapper, Griffin. I can't wait to read what she writes next.
    • 5/5
      Girl, Stolen by April Henry. It all began when Cheyenne Wilder was sleeping in the backseat of her stepmother's car. Her stepmother was filling a prescription for Cheyenne's pneumonia. Cheyenne is also blind. Griffin and his father, Roy, steal cars so that they can sell car parts for a cheaper price. TJ and Jimbo are also their helpers. Griffin steals the car Cheyenne is in and accidentally kidnaps her. He had no intention of kidnapping her and he didn't know she was in the car. When they return to Roy's place Roy isn't happy. However, as soon as Roy finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of Nike, he has the idea of giving back Cheyenne for money in exchange. Cheyenne stays with these people for awhile but she is planning an escape. When the escape day came it was early in the morning, still dark. She slowly goes outside where her kidnappers have a tied up dog. She uses him as a guide dog. That doesn't last very long when the dog abandons her to chase a squirrel. She now has to use a stick as her guidance. Minutes later a person is after her. It's Griffin. Griffin was the one that was the kindest and cared for Cheyenne the most. He is helping her escape now. Soon, Cheyenne has to leave him behind because he hurt his ankle and can't walk on it. She doesn't want to because it is freezing weather but she needs to and does. What she believed was a police officer showed up. He took Cheyenne to his car where she realized that Roy was impersonating a police officer. She grabs his gun and forces him out. Roy is furious and begins to throw rocks at the car and tries to break in. Cheyenne attempts to drive to escape but it is difficult since she can't see. Soon she is able to find Roy's phone and dials 9-1-1. The woman is trying to help Cheyenne by turning on different police sirens at a time to figure out where Cheyenne is located. When her location is pinpointed she is taken home safely. I enjoyed reading this novel but I did think that the book would have still been the great one it is without the bad language. Other than that is was entertaining and very different. I haven't read very many books including a blind person. April Henry did a lovely job writing this book!
    • 4/5
      A very suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thriller. Although I was tired and had other things to do, I couldn't put the book down until I figured out what happened. The information about Cheyenne's blindness and how it affected her life was well incorporated -- educating the reader without making it sound like it was trying to educate the reader. I was impressed by this and would read more of the author's work.
    • 2/5
      This book was kind of a let down. I think with the cover and the synopsis I had much higher hopes for the story to be great. I mean, a blind and sick teenage girl accidentally kidnapped by a teenage boy’s impulse action to steal a car... what is not intriguing about that? However, I found the story to be a little too unrealistic and short. Maybe it’s just me, but if I was kidnapped I don’t think I would be so chatty and dumping my entire life story out on a random guy who may or may not kill me. Despite the story feeling too fake, I did like Cheyenne and Griffin. I thought Cheyenne was brave and willing to take risks despite her hardships, and Griffin was doing his best when being dealt a rough hand in life. And, lets be honest, the true romantic in me wanted them to be friends – or maybe more. The writing style flowed well and I liked the alternating perspectives between Cheyenne and Griffin. Overall I was happy with the conclusion of the main plotline, but not happy with how the book ended. If that makes any sense? This story was a great idea, but I really feel like it could have been so much more.
    • 4/5
      Seven reasons I liked this book (though not in any particular order):1) The cover is cool. I like how Cheyenne is peaking out between her fingers. 2) It's very suspenceful, but not to the point that I couldn't sleep at night because of the house creaking (I'm wimp when it comes to scary)3) I learned a lot about what it's like to be blind. I never spent much time thinking about how those who are blind might be treated or how they navigate in a world where most everyone else sees. It was interesting.4) Griffin's the kidnapper, but he's not just the bad guy. He has depth and character. He had some redeeming qualities. 5) Griffin's dad is rather evil and has no redeeming qualities. 6) Cheyenne is brave and very strong. She's determined to take control of her situation and do everything she can to escape. She doesn't wait around for someone to rescue her. 7) Cheyenne does not suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Yeah!
    • 4/5
      This was a really good short read. For me it was reminiscent of Caroline B. Cooney. A great suspense type thriller with a resourceful girl who does her best to overcome her trials.
    • 3/5
      Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills a prescription for antibiotics. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, the car is being stolen. Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne, but once his dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes -- now there's a reason to keep her. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare because she's not only sick with pneumonia -- she's blind.
      -from the back cover

      Meh. Not a bad book, but it could have been better. There are so many details that the author didn't explore, but I guess if she had, the book would have been completely different (and much longer). I would have liked to see how the father and stepmom were dealing with the fact that she left Cheyenne in the unlocked car alone. I mean, seriously, the girl is blind. That seems very dangerous to me. I certainly never let my kids stay in the car alone when they were younger. My 14-year old daughter sometimes stays in the car now, but she keeps the doors locked until I return (and she knows how to set off the alarm if necessary).

      By the end of chapter 5, Cheyenne is back at Griffin's house. He is about her age (late teens) and seems to be prone to making bad decisions. He has been abused by his father and was abandoned by his mother. He does seem to have a good heart though.

      Not much happens after that until the end of the book (around Chapter 23). After that, things happen rather quickly. I would say the last 50 pages of the book are the best. There are a couple of twists and one sort-of surprise. I won't say what it is, no spoilers here.

      Bottom line? It is a very quick read with little action until the last 50 pages. Cheyenne is a smart girl and doesn't give up easy.

      Recommended to:
      I bought this at our high school book fair. It is definitely more for high school readers. There is no sex, but there is an attempted assault - very little happens, but the intent was there.
    • 4/5
      What a great, quick thriller. The pace of the novel is non-stop and the bad guys are terrifying. What's even better is the tension continues to ramp up throughout the entire book - there are twists and turns in every chapter.
    • 4/5
      This was such a fascinating read! It was thrilling and fast-paced, I literally gasped a few times! The story was told from alternating view points and sometimes this can be distracting, but here it really worked well. Both main characters were really well written. Cheyenne, who's blindness is fairly new (she wasn't born that way, she's been blind for three years) and I felt that was very authentically presented. From the author's notes and thank yous, you can see she really took the time to research this thoroughly and that definitely shows. It added depth to her character that she could still envision the world around her and had also developed the heightened senses that sometimes come with blindness. Cheyenne was very aware of her limitations, but pulled out all her other strengths to survive this ordeal.I liked seeing the situation from Griffin's point of view as well. Yes, he steals the car and makes the bad choice to not let Cheyenne go immediately, but as soon as you get a glimpse at his reason for making these decisions, you can't help but be a little sympathetic to his situation. He is not at all what he seems to be at first, and once you get to know this character, you start to root for him to turn it around and do something heroic to make it right. I just wanted to see him get cut a little break.Having such real and complex characters really added to the punch of this story---you really get wrapped up in the terror, the excitement, and the hope that everything turns out alright! Highly recommend this one!
    • 4/5
      This book is very good for young adults. I was expecting the book to start out with some back story on Cheyenne and her family but it jumps right into the action. Cheyenne is blind and sick with pneumonia. She is in her step-mom's car waiting on her to fill her prescription. Meanwhile the car is stolen with Cheyenne in it. I was surprised at how much fight Cheyenne had in her. She doesn't back down from anyone. The book follows her through her captivity while giving you glimpses of her life before she was blind and what caused it. We also learn more about her abductor Griffen (who didn't mean to kidnap her at all). Through the story we come to feel sorry for Griffen and he and Cheyenne form a kind of friendship. Cheyenne being blind put an interesting twist on the story which I enjoyed. Overall a good read!
    • 4/5
      Wow, what a roller-coaster of a book! Cheyenne's plight was so compelling I didn't want to put this book down. I cannot imagine being blind, but this book really pulled me into Cheyenne's head and her world, and I pictured everything through her mind. Everything that would happen in the book, I would imagine it happening when all you could do was hear it, not see it. What a scary world that poor Cheyenne is pulled into.The characters in this book were great. Cheyenne was vulnerable, but she was so strong and resilient in the face of these dangerous men. She never gives up the fight, even when she's made them believe that she has. Griffin is a troubled kid that you can't help but feel sorry for. He's trying to be a good kid, but with a Dad that makes you steal for a living, that's not so easy. Roy, TJ, and Jimbo were so easy to hate. There was so many times that I wanted to jump into the pages and pummel them myself. I hated them passionately, and that is just a testament to the wonderful writing. April Henry really created a rich world, one that you can imagine every detail of. As I imagined Cheyenne running through the forest, I could feel the branches catching my face, the cold stinging my fingers and toes. It was a great ride. Although, I liked the way the book was wrapping up, my only complaint would be that it ended a little too abruptly. It could really use another paragraph there at the end.Overall it was a great read that I definitely recommend!
    • 5/5
      I found it hard to choose a rating for this book. It was a page-turner for sure, it was impeccably written, but it was also about what I consider to be dark subject matter.This book made me feel like I was reading an episode of Without a Trace or another one of those crime dramas. I usually don’t like reading books about this kind of stuff. So my first reaction to a book about a young blind girl who gets kidnapped was No Thank You! But then I started to read a lot of good things about it, so I decided to give it a shot. And I’m really glad that I did. I thought the writing in this book was incredible. There were no wasted words. It was as if each word was carefully selected. It was pretty short for a YA novel but I can see why. It helped to keep up the tension, and steady pace of the plotline throughout the whole book.Cheyenne was an incredibly strong main character. I was impressed by how much she was able to keep her wits about her throughout such a terrifying and traumatizing experience. She never gave up; she stayed strong, and was always thinking one step ahead of her captors.The relationship between Cheyenne and Griffin was an awkward one. Griffin is the one who took Cheyenne, but he didn’t do it on purpose. Then he keeps her with full intent of letting her go later…that is until Griffins dad finds out what happened and that her father is the president of Nike. Then everything changes.Cheyenne and Griffin become friends of sorts throughout the whole thing. Griffin transforms from captor to protector as the story progresses. He knows that he made a mistake and he doesn’t want Cheyenne to get hurt because of him. I liked Griffin, which seemed wrong to me; he was the bad guy, essentially. I felt like I should hate him, but I didn’t. I couldn’t.
    • 4/5
      I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, but every time I see it in the store, I always passed it by. I'm not really sure why. I thought I might not like it, and even at times convinced myself it would be boring! But how could a book about a blind girl being kidnapped be boring? I'm sure it could be, but this was not the case for April Henry's GIRL, STOLEN, and I am so glad this was gifted to me during the Summer Book Exchange.

      This book was fantastic. It had so many elements that I love about a book, plus so many more that I had never experienced before. I am a huge fan of suspense and thrillers and Henry absolutely delivered on that front. The fact that this was grounded in reality freaked me out. GIRL, STOLEN also had a wonderful cast of colorful characters that made the story seem very real. It was also touching at times, reliving Cheyenne's injuries and recovery and the loss of her mother.


      GIRL, STOLEN doesn't pull any punches when it comes to action. Immediately, as soon as the book starts, we are thrown into the story. Within the first pages, Cheyenne is kidnapped. She is also blind. Before reading this book I had always assumed that blindness (and deafness and the like) were to be considered handicaps and disadvantages, but Henry, through Cheyenne, taught me so much more. While Cheyenne couldn't see, she could perceive the world around her very differently from everyone else, and I would say even more usefully. She could tell what direction she was facing, she could hear things better than everyone else, she noticed little things that people who are sighted wouldn't necessarily notice. While her blindness did hinder her a little bit, she didn't let it stop her.


      We were also allowed into the head of Cheyenne's kidnapper, Griffin. He had only meant to steal the car, seeing the keys left in the ignition was like a gift from God to him. So when he climbed into the front seat of the Escalade, he had no idea what was in store for him over the next couple days. Griffin grew up in a terrible home environment full of criminals and drunks. His father was an alcoholic and an abusive parent and Griffin's mom had abandoned them ages ago. Griffin became a very sympathetic character at times, even when he had to do terrible things like tie Cheyenne to a bed or threaten her with a weapon.


      I also loved the back story we got with Cheyenne. She was injured in a car wreck that killed her mother and caused Cheyenne's blindness. She also suffered massive bodily injuries. We got to follow her on her road to physical and emotional recovery. The scenes with Cheyenne's father was heart wrenching, and I could feel their desolation and hopelessness. I wasn't sure how Cheyenne would be able to climb out of her depression. It was touching.


      GIRL, STOLEN was at times a heart-stopping thriller. It was also a story of forgiveness, and recovery, and hope, and family. It is a quick read at about 200 pages, and I would definitely recommend it to those looking for a suspenseful thriller with sympathetic, lovable characters.
    • 3/5
      When I first read the back of the this book I thought that it sounded super unique, therefore I was quite excited to read it, thinking it would be amazing. But (isn't there always a but?)... It just wasn't my cup of tea. I think that a lot of other YA readers will enjoy this book, I think that my biggest problem is that I think that currently I am very much loving YA paranormal and anything that isn't within that genre just kinda falls flat for me.One pro of this book is that the characters are extremely relatable. You have Cheyenne, a young girl who has undergone ordeal after ordeal over an extremely short period of time, losing her mom in a freak accident, losing her eyesight from said accident, getting sick and then getting kidnapped, who remains strong despite it all and then you have Griffin, the unintentional kidnapper who has had a pretty crappy life, who you just cannot but feel sorry for and despite all of his mistakes, and who you eventually come to love. Another pro is that it draws awareness to visual impairments and clears up the misconception that everyone who is legally blind cannot see whatsoever, Cheyenne is considered as such, but she does have a tiny sliver of peripheral vision in her one eye.However, one of the cons of this book is that the action really never takes off as much as I would have preferred. For a large part of the story Cheyenne is tied to a bed and is pretty helpless since her vision is not good enough to get her out of the situation. When the action finally does occur, it happens within the very last part of the book and is over within a heartbeat.It kinda reminds me of "If the Witness Lied" and "Code Orange" by Caroline B. Cooney- they are all books that I could either take them or leave them.
    • 2/5
      Hmm. I wasn't sure what I'd be getting when I picked this up to read. A blind girl kidnapped? How would that plot unfold? How would the characters interact? Could the author pull such difficult circumstances off?Well, in some ways April Henry excelled, but in others? Not so much.The plot was engaging and constantly moved forward. I think the circumstances were very realistic and believable, and the back-and-forth between Griffin and Cheyenne was quite intriguing.However, as far as the characters go overall, this is where Henry fails to deliver. A blind girl being kidnapped? This should scare me - my heart should be breaking for this girl. Griffin was caught between his jerk father and his own feelings. These tortured characters should have jumped off the page and haunted me. However, even when Cheyenne was talking or thinking about her horrible past, the descriptions felt more like dispassionate character sketches then the real feelings and events in a teenage girl's life. I never felt like the words or the story connected to the characters: they were just props for the plot.So, even though the plot was well written and I was very interested to see how things turned out, I never truly felt the characters. I think this book might be geared toward and more appropriate for younger teen readers. So, if you are intrigued by this plot but would prefer something a little more mature and emotionally engaging, try Stolen by Lucy Christopher instead.
    • 5/5
      Pretty awesome read. It kept me on edge from start until the very end. I'm definitely looking forward for book 2.
    • 4/5
      I really adored Girl, Stolen. This is the first book that I've read from April Henry and I had been looking forward to reading it for a while and it did not disappoint. The story is well thought out, smart, fast-paced, with suspense and action, and a twist towards the end. And with the added strain of a teenage girl’s blindness and pneumonia, this accidental kidnapping is unlike any other I’ve read, so it definitely peaked my interest. It is fresh and original.The characters are believable, with Cheyenne being my favorite. I liked how despite her handicap of being blind and sick, she is not portrayed as weak and helpless. The author focuses more on Cheyenne’s strengths than her weaknesses and utilizes them to the fullest extent. Don’t underestimate her. In fact, she is quite an extraordinary, remarkable, and brave young girl. The amount of strength and fight in her to try to survive this ordeal is just incredible and inspiring. Even though this is just a work of fiction, it still gives you a testament of what a blind person is capable of overcoming when faced with obstacles. Cheyenne never gives up hope. Her intelligence as well as her methodical planning and strategic ingenuity make up for her blindness. Cheyenne finds the strongest weapon in the most unlikely place - through communication - which I thought was interesting. But she also uses her handicap to her advantage, trying to evoke sympathy, in hopes of gaining some leverage in her situation. So she really leaves no stone unturned.Griffin, the teenage boy who accidentally kidnaps Cheyenne when he steals her stepmom’s car, is another character who, while I shouldn’t like him because he is one of the bad guys, kind of grew on me once I got to learn more about him, as his damaged layers were slowly peeled back as you read through the book. He is torn between doing what’s right and doing what his father expects of him, so his vulnerability is easily visible. The book does a great job of detailing the internal conflicts and thoughts of the kidnappers. For me the story was just as much about Griffin as it was about Cheyenne. I felt that it was just as important to try to “free” Griffin as it was to free Cheyenne. There are certain parallels in their lives that allow for them to relate - or seemingly so - which you have to decide, is it a genuine connection or a strategic one? You’ll have to make up your own mind about this if you read this book.I found myself caring about what happened to the characters. And I was rooting for Cheyenne the whole time. The exciting part about reading this book is that it’s unpredictable - to me at least - because it could go either way, good or bad. I didn’t know what was going to happen next, which made the journey more thrilling and suspenseful.Money is such a powerful incentive for some of the captors that they are willing to selfishly hold Cheyenne for ransom despite never being kidnappers before. Even though Cheyenne is literally the blind one, for me it felt like her captors were also “blind,” being blinded by money. You get to see the extent to which some people will go for money and how greed can affect some people in a negative way by clouding and overpowering rational reasoning and good judgement in the weak-minded. The book has a lot of underlying depth, dealing with themes and issues of peer pressure, morality, trust, the handicapped, overcoming obstacles, courage, and hope.While there is definitely some tension throughout the book, I wish there had been a little more conflict between Cheyenne and her captors. But this is understandable as her captors were not natural kidnappers. I also wish the story would have taken place over a longer period of time, as it only spanned a few days. It would have allowed for the story to not feel so rushed towards the end. And the search for Cheyenne isn’t highlighted as much as I would have liked, only briefly mentioned in the book. But overall, I was very impressed and satisfied with the book. The plot is solid from beginning to end. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!

    Book preview

    Girl, Stolen - April Henry

    A Thousand Things Wrong

    Cheyenne heard the car door open. She didn’t move from where she lay curled on the backseat, her head resting on her bent arm. Despite the blanket that covered her, Cheyenne was shivering.

    She had begged her stepmom to leave the keys in the car so she could turn on the heat if she got cold. After some back-and-forthing, Danielle had agreed. That had only been five minutes ago, and here she was, already back. Maybe the doctor had phoned in the prescription and Danielle hadn’t had to wait for it to be filled.

    Now the door slammed closed, the SUV rocking a little as weight settled into the driver’s seat. The engine started. The emergency brake clunked as it was released. The car jerked into reverse.

    It was a thousand little things that told Cheyenne something was wrong. Even the way the door closed hadn’t sounded right. Too fast and too hard for Danielle. The breathing was all wrong too, speeded up and harsh. Cheyenne sniffed. The smell of cigarettes. But Danielle didn’t smoke and, as a nurse, couldn’t stand anyone who did.

    There was no way the person driving the car was her stepmom.

    But why would someone else have gotten in the car? It was a Cadillac Escalade, so it wasn’t likely someone had just gotten confused and thought it was their car.

    Then she remembered the keys. Somebody was stealing the car!

    And Cheyenne was pretty sure they didn’t know she was in it.

    She froze, wondering how much the blanket covered her. She couldn’t feel it on the top of her head.

    Cheyenne felt like a mouse she had seen in the kitchen one time when she turned on the light before school. Caught in the middle of the floor, it had stood stock-still. Like maybe she wouldn’t notice it if it didn’t move.

    But it hadn’t worked for the mouse, and now it didn’t work for Cheyenne. She must have made some small sound. Or maybe the thief had looked back to see if someone was following and then realized what the shape was underneath the blanket.

    A swear word. A guy’s voice. She had already halfway known that it was a guy, the way she sometimes just knew things now.

    Who the hell are you? His voice broke in surprise.

    What are you doing in Danielle’s car?

    Their words collided and tangled. Both of them speaking too fast, almost yelling.

    Sitting up, she scrambled back against the door, the one farthest from him. Stop our car and get out!

    No! he shouted back. The engine surged as he drove faster.

    Cheyenne realized she was being kidnapped.

    But she couldn’t see the guy who was kidnapping her or where they were going.

    Because for the last three years, Cheyenne had been blind.

    Drawing Blood

    The girl in the backseat wouldn’t stop yelling. She had black hair and huge brown eyes, wide with fright. Maybe she was pretty. Griffin didn’t know. All he knew was that right now she was a big problem. Even though he was freaking out, he forced himself to think. Thank God no one was nearby.

    If he stopped and let her out, the way she kept demanding, this girl would run screaming to the first person she saw. In ten minutes or less, he would be arrested. And then the cops would naturally drive out to their house, and everything would unravel. All of them in jail. Probably for a long time.

    Instead of slowing down, Griffin accelerated as he turned out of the far end of the parking lot. It threw the girl off balance. He winced as her head clunked against the window, but still he kept going. He was acting on pure instinct now. And instinct told him to get as far away as possible. Growing up around Roy, you got pretty good at running. Running and hiding.

    Griffin caught a break, hitting a gap in traffic. He drove as fast as he could across the freeway overpass. The Escalade leaped forward when he pressed the accelerator, hitting sixty-five with no sign of strain.

    With the way today was going, the cops would pull him over for speeding. Griffin needed time to think this through, but there was no way he could afford to take it. He figured he had to put as much distance as he could between whoever had been driving this car and the girl in the backseat, who must belong to them. To get away from any witnesses who might be calling 9-1-1 on their cell phones right now. Cutting in front of a red Honda, he took the next corner on two wheels, getting off the main road.

    He pounded the side of his head in frustration. How could he have been so stupid as to not notice that there was someone in the car? Griffin could hear Roy shouting at him, almost as real as the girl in the backseat, the girl who wouldn’t stop yelling.

    He hadn’t been able to see past the keys dangling in the ignition. It was that simple, and that senseless. Griffin had been walking down the long rows of vehicles, looking like any other stressed-out Christmas shopper who couldn’t find his car. Instead, he was looking for packages he could boost. The packages came from the big, boxy stores that surrounded the acres and acres of the shopping center’s parking lot. (The whole place was so big that most people left one store, got in their cars, and drove the equivalent of three blocks to the next store.)

    Thanks to Roy, Griffin knew how to get in and out of a locked car in under a minute. He could do it even when someone was climbing out of the next car, and they wouldn’t notice a thing. Sometimes, just for a thrill, Griffin would even give a nod as he straightened up with the J. Crew bag or the box from Abercrombie. Then he would stroll down to his own car, parked near one of the exits, and put the bags in the trunk. After the trunk was full, he would drive into Portland and across the river to Eighty-second Avenue, where any of a string of secondhand stores was happy to buy new merchandise for resale, no questions asked.

    The Escalade had been a gift, a surprise present meant just for him. Anyone who was stupid enough to leave the keys dangling from the ignition, in full view of the world, deserved to have the car taken away. And he couldn’t wait to bring it home and present it to Roy.

    That’s what Griffin had thought, anyway, until the blanket in the backseat turned out to have a girl underneath it.

    Ignoring the girl, ignoring his own panicked thoughts, the explanations and rationalizations he was already practicing for when he got back home, Griffin drove as fast as he could without losing control. Too fast for her to risk jumping out. He kept his head half turned, one eye on the road and the other on her. Weaving around slower cars, Griffin took a side street, and then another, until finally he was on an empty road that cut through a piece of scrubland. On each corner, a big white sign advertised it for sale to any interested developers.

    As soon as he slowed down, the girl came at him, outstretched hands curved into claws, screaming like a banshee. Her head was cocked to one side, and her eyes were wide and staring. She looked crazy. Maybe she was.

    Throwing the car into park, Griffin tried to deflect her, raising his shoulder and turning his head. At least no one was around to hear her. Her fingernails raked down his right cheek, and he could feel she had drawn blood.

    He had to do something, but what? He squeezed between the seats. Griffin just wanted her to calm down, but he ended up wrestling with her, both of them struggling in a desperate silence. Finally, he managed to straddle her and pin her arms to her sides. He was bigger than she was, and he was working on pure adrenaline. At least she had stopped screaming. The sound of their ragged breathing filled the car. He became aware of a quiet hum—he had never had time to turn off the car. Straightening up, he managed to quickly reach over and turn off the key.

    I’m sorry, he said into the complete silence. Let’s talk about this. But you have to promise that you’ll stop trying to kill me.

    I will. She nodded, her eyes not meeting his. Griffin figured she was probably lying. In the same situation, he knew he would lie.

    He exhaled. "Look, it’s an accident you’re here. I just wanted the car, not you. I didn’t even know you were in the car."

    Then let me go. Her voice was low and hoarse. She took a deep breath and then started to cough, a deep, racking sound. She kept her head turned away, but still little flecks of spit landed on him. When she spoke again, it was in a whisper. Please, please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone.

    Even Griffin wasn’t that dumb. I’m sorry, but do you think I really believe that? By the end of the day, my description would be handed out to every cop and broadcast on every radio station in town.

    A strange expression played across her face, the ghost of a smile. In the cold, the engine ticked as it cooled. But I won’t be able to tell them anything. Didn’t you notice that I’m blind?

    Blind? Griffin stared at her dark eyes. He had thought they weren’t really meeting his because she was looking past him for help, searching for a way out, assessing the situation.

    You’re really blind?

    My cane’s on the floor.

    Still wondering if she was tricking him somehow, he looked on the floor. Sitting next to a small black purse behind the driver’s seat was a folded bundle of white sticks.

    Griffin imagined doing what she asked. He could let her get out. Maybe give her her cane, maybe not. She could probably hear cars okay, and it wasn’t like there were a lot of them. Instead of getting run over, she would flag down the next vehicle that came along. But as soon as someone stopped for her, it wouldn’t be long until the police were involved. The brand-new Escalade didn’t exactly blend in. What if someone passed by here only a minute or two after he let her go? He was thirty miles from home, thirty miles from where he could hide the car. It would be all too easy to track him down. And after that, it was still the same nightmare scenario. All of them locked up and the key thrown away for good.

    No. Better to keep her for a little while yet. Ask Roy what to do, even though he wouldn’t be happy about Griffin bringing back trouble. Better to bring it back than to leave it out here, ready to explode and engulf them all in the fallout. Besides, Griffin already had an idea. Tonight, after it got dark, he could drive this girl someplace deserted and let her out and then drive away again. Leave her someplace where it would be hours before anyone found her. Just like she asked, only with a lot less chance of being caught. But not here. Not now. Not in daylight. Not when a car might come by at any moment.

    As if to make the thought real, he heard a car in the distance. Approaching them.

    I can’t let you go, he said, and was starting to add, not right now, but before Griffin even got the next word out of his mouth she was fighting him again, opening her mouth to scream. What could he do? Then he had an idea. He didn’t know if it would work, but he had to do something. Desperately, he groped across the passenger seat until his fingers closed on what he needed.

    Griffin pressed the barrel against her temple.

    Shut up or I’ll shoot you.

    Every Reason to Lie

    Cheyenne froze at the touch of the cold metal. She could tell that he meant what he said. He sounded angry and out of control, just like she felt. They were both quiet until the car passed them and the sound of its engine faded. She could feel her strength draining away with it.

    Look—can’t you just chill? His voice sounded a little calmer.

    She made herself nod.

    I don’t need this crap. I don’t need you screaming and kicking and scratching. I can’t think when you do that. So are you going to be quiet?

    Cheyenne nodded again, wishing she could curl up into a tighter and tighter ball, grow smaller and smaller until she just disappeared.

    "I am going to let you go," he insisted.

    Something must have flickered on her face, betrayed her doubt.

    "I am! Just not now. Right now, I’m going to have to tie you up and cover you with the blanket so that no one can see you. And tonight, once it’s dark, I’ll let you go."

    Her head ached where it had slammed against the window. That had probably only been five minutes ago, but it felt like a lifetime. Where were they now that he felt he could hold her down in the backseat without anyone noticing? That lone car had been the only one she had heard since he had turned onto this road.

    Take off your shoes. Cheyenne thought he was trying to stop her from running away, until he added, And pull out the laces.

    She did as he asked, wondering where the gun was pointing. At her head, at her heart? Or had he already set it down? The tiny slice of blurry vision she had left didn’t reveal any clues. He ordered her to lie down on her side, facing the seat, then tied her hands together behind her. Cheyenne knew he couldn’t be holding the gun when he did that, but even so, he could still pick it up and shoot her if she gave him any trouble. She did as he asked, but at the same time tensed her wrists and held them as far apart as she dared. With the second shoelace, he tied her ankles together. Why couldn’t she have worn loafers?

    Her mind raced. When he was finished, she rolled over so that she was facing him. She wanted him to see her face, to see her eyes even if she couldn’t see his. It would probably be easier to shoot someone in the back.

    She didn’t want to make it easy for him.

    Cheyenne heard him pick up her purse and begin to rummage through it.

    Are you looking for money? she said. "Because I don’t have

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