The Stanleys are going to Italy for a year! The first chapter tells us this and gives us the reason. Then they make an effort to learn the language, and once there... they meet lots of people, visit a lot of places, and the plot goes nowhere while we spend Twenty Minutes With Jerks. Or no, not twenty minutes- half the book.
Of the characters we meet in Italy, only two are important (besides the kidnappers), and one of those is an Australian boy Amanda develops a crush on, while he ignores her. When Amanda receives a love letter written in Engrish purporting to be from the boy, she follows its instructions into the waiting arms of kidnappers, as David and the younger siblings chase after her, only to get nabbed as well.
It's ironic that once the characters stop traveling around a lot and instead are locked in a room, that the story itself actually gets moving. But that's when the story gets a great mixture of suspense, excitement, and humor with a touch of character drama, and becomes a lot more fun.
David and Amanda try to keep little Esther and Blair from being aware of the seriousness of the situation. But Janie quickly steals the show. She actually learned more Italian than the other Stanleys, and quickly gets to showing it off, having long conversations with the kidnappers and translating back and forth between them all. She even translates Esther's whines for better food. But once she realizes how serious the situation is, she calms down... slightly. She chooses not to translate the word "morto" when Amanda is forced to write her second ransom letter in English, realizing how much it would upset her.
And Amanda is upset, especially since her rich dad is not really a big part of her life, and she's afraid he won't be able to give them the money. Her usually grumpy, "the world sucks and so do you" demeanor shatters and David can tell she's not being herself.
But Janie won't stop coming up with escape plans, while David plans instead to play to the kidnappers' emotions and get them to care about the kids and see them as human. In the end, both their plans work... in unexpected ways.
Ultimately, this book is fun, once it actually gets started. Start on page 100 (out of 215) and you're good to go.
Book 2, The Famous Stanley Kidnapping Case - five kids locked in a room, chaos ensues
The Stanleys are going to Italy for a year! The first chapter tells us this and gives us the reason. Then they make an effort to learn the language, and once there... they meet lots of people, visit a lot of places, and the plot goes nowhere while we spend Twenty Minutes With Jerks. Or no, not twenty minutes- half the book.
Of the characters we meet in Italy, only two are important (besides the kidnappers), and one of those is an Australian boy Amanda develops a crush on, while he ignores her. When Amanda receives a love letter written in Engrish purporting to be from the boy, she follows its instructions into the waiting arms of kidnappers, as David and the younger siblings chase after her, only to get nabbed as well.
It's ironic that once the characters stop traveling around a lot and instead are locked in a room, that the story itself actually gets moving. But that's when the story gets a great mixture of suspense, excitement, and humor with a touch of character drama, and becomes a lot more fun.
David and Amanda try to keep little Esther and Blair from being aware of the seriousness of the situation. But Janie quickly steals the show. She actually learned more Italian than the other Stanleys, and quickly gets to showing it off, having long conversations with the kidnappers and translating back and forth between them all. She even translates Esther's whines for better food. But once she realizes how serious the situation is, she calms down... slightly. She chooses not to translate the word "morto" when Amanda is forced to write her second ransom letter in English, realizing how much it would upset her.
And Amanda is upset, especially since her rich dad is not really a big part of her life, and she's afraid he won't be able to give them the money. Her usually grumpy, "the world sucks and so do you" demeanor shatters and David can tell she's not being herself.
But Janie won't stop coming up with escape plans, while David plans instead to play to the kidnappers' emotions and get them to care about the kids and see them as human. In the end, both their plans work... in unexpected ways.
Ultimately, this book is fun, once it actually gets started. Start on page 100 (out of 215) and you're good to go.