Module 9: "The Face on the Milk Carton" by Caroline B. Cooney

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 Book Summary:

The Face on the Milk Carton is the story of a young girl, now a teenager, who sees a picture on a milk carton during school lunch and comes to the realization that she could possibly be the missing child in that picture.  The photo shows a normal little 3-year-old girl in pigtails and a pinafore, who had been kidnapped from a mall in New Jersey over twelve years ago. Janie Johnson is shocked to see her face staring back at her from the carton.  Up until now, her life has been normal.  She is the only child of parents she loves and adores.

In a search to discover the truth, Janie asks her parents facts surrounding her birth, including the question of why there are no baby pictures of her.  They are vague and insist that she shouldn’t worry about it.  But one day when she looks through some hidden items, she finds the exact dress shown in the picture on the milk carton.

Not knowing how to handle this troubling information, she confides in Reeve, a friend and neighbor, and together they reveal their findings to Janie’s parents.  Janie struggles with bouts of depression and self-esteem issues, not knowing who she really is or why this event occurred.

The truth eventually comes out as Janie’s parents disclose that they had taken her away from their daughter who had become involved in a cult.  They insisted they had done it out of love.  But further investigation revealed that Janie did not belong to their daughter either, and that she had kidnapped Janie from that shopping mall years ago. 

The book ends as Janie accepts the situation and contacts her birth parents.  The story continues in Cooney’s second book, Whatever happened to Janie?

APA Reference:  

Cooney,  C.B.  (1996). The face on the milk carton.  New York, N.Y.  Delacorte Books for Young Readers.

My Impressions:

The Face on the Milk Carton is a young adult novel written by well-known author Caroline B. Cooney.  It addresses the important issue of missing and kidnapped children in America.  As I read the book, it was easy to get caught up in Janie’s growing fear and insecurity as she faced the real possibility that she was a kidnapped child, and that her parents had lied to her all these years.  Just being a teenager and facing the normal anxieties and pressures of that time in life would be difficult enough for a young girl to deal with, but her search for the truth consumed her thoughts and twisted her emotions.  The normal ‘rite of passage’ for every teenager is self-discovery.  Janie’s entire perception of who she is was shattered by one moment of horrified recognition as she glanced at a random milk carton. Her life would never be the same.

Although the plot in this mystery would be of interest to teens, I didn’t feel the characters were developed as well as they could have been.  Another problem I had with the story was Janie’s sexual experimentation with Reeve.  She was already dealing with so many mixed-up emotions regarding her heritage that entering into such a relationship at that point only further complicated the situation.  Overall though, this is an intriguing story that keeps the reader flipping pages to find out what the ending will be.  The situation, however, is not resolved in the first book – you have to read the sequel(s) to discover how it all turns out.

Professional Review:

A milk carton portrait causes a 15-year-old girl to question her true identity; citing the novel's "strong characterizations and suspenseful, impeccably paced action," PW added, "The roller-coaster ride Jane experiences with her emotions is both absorbing and convincing." Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

[Review of the book The face on the milk carton, by C. B. Cooney].  (1995, April 10). Publishers Weekly,  242(15).  17.  Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com.

Library Uses:

The theme of family and heritage is emphasized throughout this book.  A good project for older children might be to research their family tree and create a crest with names of their ancestors on both sides, going back several generations.  Other possible themes to explore would be adoption and step-families, as well as kidnapped and missing children.