The Face on the Milk Carton

The Face on the Milk Carton was written by Caroline B. Cooney

Ages: 14-up

Synopsis

Wikipedia

This is a story about a teen, Janie Johnson, who discovers she was possibly kidnapped by her parents after seeing her face on a milk carton for missing children. It goes through her searching for the truth because she believes her parents did not kidnap her. She begins to have flashbacks and finds the Spring family who posted the missing child ad. Her friend/boyfriend Reeve helps her as she tries to figure out what to do. Janie writes a letter to the Spring family but loses the letter and thinks someone might have sent it. She decides to confront her parents. At the end of the book they contact the Springs, where she talks to her possible biological mother.

Review

The book is a mystery and goes through the struggles that teens have as they discover who they are. There are relationship struggles, family identity, and honesty that the characters have. Cooney does an excellent job at showing that one can have two families, adoptive and biological, and love both, which Janie strives to grasp as she grows up.

This is in a series of five called the Janie Johnson series. The reader follows Janie up to her college age and her continual discovery of her family, her romantic struggles with Reeve, and how she really got kidnapped. The last book: Janie Face to Face was published in January 2014. There was also a TV film created in 1995 on Lifetime based off of the first two books in the series. You can find a trailer for this movie on YouTube.

Kids Section

Activities

Here are some possible activities you can suggest doing with your teenager and family.

Pop some popcorn or make some other favorite treats and play some card/board games as a family.

Plan a picnic and bring a soccer ball, frisbee, football, or other favorite outside game you can play.

Ask your teenager if they’d like to come up with an activity they love and teach it to the family.

Discussion

Below are a list of possible questions/discussions to have with your child as they read this book.

Janie goes through a lot of struggles while attending school. Do you have struggles you’re trying to overcome? What are they?

As a parent, share a struggle you had as a teenager and discuss how you overcame it.

If your child has had to adjust to a new school due to moving or adoption, ask them how you can help them. Let them invite one of their new friends they made at school for an evening.

References

Link to the Wikipedia article on the Janie Johnson series: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janie_Johnson_series
Link for the TV Movie article for The Face on the Milk Carton: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_on_the_Milk_Carton_(film)
Link to the Wikipedia article on the book: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Face_on_the_Milk_Carton