Bloor, Edward. Taken.BLOOR, Edward. Taken. Random House, Knopf. 256p. c2007. 978-0-375-83838-7. $16.99. (Lib. bdg: 978-0-375-93638-4. $19.99.) JS Charity Meyers is lying on a stretcher stretcher /stretch·er/ (strech´er) a contrivance for carrying the sick or wounded. stretch·er n. and the screen on her widescreen videomonitor tells her that the date is 01-01-36. The year is 2036 and society has taken some dramatic turns. In Florida the wealthy live in walled communities, keep their money in personal vaults and employ servants from the Royal Domestic Service to take care of themselves and their children. They are totally separated from the rest of the world and fear those who don't share their wealth. Their children are trained in survival techniques because one of the most lucrative activities is kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. ; Charity is now a victim. Her father is a mostly absent parent, taking his helicopter to college football games and making money from his DermaBronze tanning tanning, process by which skins and hides are converted into leather. Vegetable tanning, a method requiring more than a month even with modern machinery and tanning liquors, employs tannin; its use is shown in Egyptian tomb paintings dating from 3000 B.C. treatments. Her stepmother is a documentary filmmaker, only interested in how things will look to the viewing public. While drifting in and out of sedation Sedation Definition Sedation is the act of calming by administration of a sedative. A sedative is a medication that commonly induces the nervous system to calm. Purpose The process of sedation has two primary intentions. , Charity recalls the last week of 2035, thinks back on her survival training, and plots a means to escape. When her father agrees to pay the ransom, something goes terribly wrong and it looks like Charity will have to draw on her own resources to get away. Her resources include a young man, one of the kidnappers, who helps her to look critically at the life she has been leading and the world around her. Though a bit preachy preach·y adj. preach·i·er, preach·i·est Inclined or given to tedious and excessive moralizing; didactic. preach at its conclusion, this is nonetheless a compelling story with enough suspense to keep readers guessing. Janis Flint-Ferguson, Prof. English Lang. & Lit., Gordon College There are three colleges named Gordon College:
J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion