Copyright Date:
2014
Edition Date:
2014
Release Date:
08/26/14
Pages:
311 pages
ISBN:
0-545-66128-5
ISBN 13:
978-0-545-66128-7
Dewey:
Fic
LCCN:
2013049168
Dimensions:
22 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
ALA Booklist
From the author of Torn (2013) comes another intense, suspenseful adventure set in a contemporary war zone. As an "able-bodied" addition to a crew of teenage disabled Afghanistan War vets set on sailing a yacht around the world, Rio Cruz initially gets an understandably mixed reception. Still, for her, the plan to take a yacht around the globe is a dream trip, which turns into a nightmare when the boat sinks in the Indian Ocean, and she and the rest of the crew are taken hostage by child soldiers of the murderous African guerilla group called the Lord's Resistance Army. Brutal tests of bodies and spirit ensue as the six captives me with prosthetic limbs, others with healing skin grafts, diabetes, and burns e forced to trek across Tanzania with little by way of food or medical supplies. Without resorting to more than briefly explicit detail, the author displays a rare talent for making terrifying situations seem real and immediate, and by the book's conclusion, readers will deeply affected by the vulnerable, stubbornly resilient characters.
Horn Book
(Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)
In this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, six extreme athletes (some are disabled teen military veterans) on a charity cruise are taken hostage by the Lord's Resistance Army and ushered into the African jungle by a band of child soldiers. Personal challenges--and a romance--add to the (somewhat contrived) drama in this novel long on exoticism and a little short on meaning.
Word Count:
77,408
Reading Level:
5.4
Interest Level:
9-12
Accelerated Reader:
reading level: 5.4
/ points: 12.0
/ quiz: 175586
/ grade: Upper Grades
Reading Counts!:
reading level:5.5 /
points:19.0 /
quiz:Q64541
Lexile:
840L
From TAKENSuddenly, the soldiers shriek and trill and scream, firing shots into the air. The sound sends shivers down my spine. Then the unruly ranks of boys part like a wave and a tall, thin man strides over the crest of the sandbank. He is wearing tight, beaded braids underneath a green military beret, and is much older than the others. His face is lined and he's got a pistol in his hand. I decide that it's a statement: It's all he needs... Following him is a blank-faced child soldier -- a girl of about fourteen...She clutches a machine gun that dangles around her neck on a length of frayed, twisted string, and she wears a necklace of cream-colored beads. When she gets closer I see that they are teeth. Maybe they are from her victims... An awful, expectant hush descends. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart and the crash of the breakers....I'm out of my mind with fear, shaking so badly I can barely stay upright... "You may have heard of me," the man says. "My name is Moses Mwemba. And you are now prisoners of the Lord's Resistance Army."
Excerpted from Taken by David Massey
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.