Girl, Stolen Response

Book Title: Girl, Stolen
Author: April Henry
Year of Publication: 2010
Number of Pages: 213
AR Points Awarded: 7.0

Literary Elements
Narrator - It’s goes back and forth in third-person limited between Cheyenne and Griffin. “For a second, Cheyenne forgot she wasn’t talking to a friend, like Sadie or Kenzie.” p. 59. “Griffin watched his dad’s expression as he listened to the phone ring.” p. 103
Protagonist -  The main protagonist would be Cheyenne. She is kind of small and weak physically, and she’s sick and blind, which makes it even worse. However, she is so strong-spirited. Even being kidnapped, she never loses hope, and she’s always fighting to escape. Griffin could also be considered a protagonist, because he tries to help Cheyenne escape. “And if it seemed like he was going to do something bad,s he wouldn’t go quietly. She would give him the fight of his life.” p. 25
Antagonist - The antagonist in the story is Roy. He’s the one who’s preventing Cheyenne from going back to her family. He’s very rude and extremely greedy, and he’s also a criminal. “‘And we also need to know how much you think your daddy might part with.’ He paused to let that sink in. ‘Here’s a tip. It had better be a lot.’” p. 53
Setting - The story takes place at Roy and Griffin’s house. It’s very gross, rundown, and full of junk, and it’s out in the middle of nowhere. It makes the mood of the story more mysterious and suspenseful, since it decreases Cheyenne’s chances of ever escaping. “They were set well back from the road...The barn was where they did most of their work, but the overflow spilled out onto the lawn. Only it wasn’t really a lawn, just bare patches alternating with weeds...West of the barn was the house. It was a few decades newer than the barn, but it had needed painting ever since Griffin could remember. Now the paint curled up in long, rusty red strips. Behind the house rose forested hills where nobody noticed if you shot a deer--in season or not...the forest was rich green pine and Douglas fir.” p. 33-35
Conflict - There are two main conflicts. One is Cheyenne fighting against her captors to get back home to her family, and the other is Griffin fighting to stand up to his family, even when it’s hard. They’re both man v. man. “She knew it was too much to hope for a pocket-knife, a telephone, a pair of scissors. But even a pen would be good. She might be able to hide a pen and use it later to stab someone.” p. 41. “Griffin realized the only one he trusted to let Cheyenne go was himself. He had to do it, even if it meant risking everything.” p. 151
Theme - The theme of this story is not to judge people right away. Cheyenne assumed Griffin was bad because of his family, but Griffin was actually on her side the whole time. “‘I’m out here trying to help you, not kill you...’ ‘Wait. You came out here to help me? After what I did to you?’” p. 173
Historical Context - This book doesn’t have much for Historical Context. It all takes place in the present. The most “historical context” it has is talking about Griffin and Cheyenne’s pasts. “For the first two months after the accident, Cheyenne was basically in bed.” p. 92

Reflection
I really liked Girl, Stolen. It was a quick read and it was really easy to understand. I like how the author flipped from Cheyenne’s to Griffin’s viewpoint so the reader would be sure to understand that Griffin wasn’t one of the bad guys. I sort of identified with Cheyenne because she’s kind of little and not too strong, but she’s very strong-willed and determined. It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago about a girl who gets kidnapped and abused. I think it would be tough to make a good movie out of it, because it would be tough to show the viewpoints of both Cheyenne and Griffin. I would recommend this book to other girls around my age. It didn’t end who I expected. I expected Cheyenne to realize Griffin was good, and they would kind of become friends. However, the author never says if they become friends. She leaves that kind of hanging for the reader to decide.