Yet I still feel sorry for him? I still like him? I still root for Gemma to love him? This is some brilliant writing to make me feel that way. He drugs Gemma, kidnaps her, lies to her, keeps her prisoner against her will. This is certainly the case with Gemma, but as a reader, I also felt connected to Ty. The captured person bonds emotionally with her captor as a way to survive long enough to escape.

Stockholm Syndrome is explained as a survival technique. They can be injured in so many ways–venomous spiders, scorpions, snakes, getting lost, dying of thirst, ingesting poisonous plants, breaking a bone, heat stroke… I always love a good survival story! Stolen has this in spades because Gemma is not only surviving long enough to escape Ty she and Ty also have to survive the dangers of the Australian Outback. Her actions and her emotions reflect what a 16-year old girl might really do and feel in this crazy situation. If the camel is a metaphor for Gemma (she is), then the Outback is a metaphor for Ty.

It’s dangerous and beautiful and solitary. Lucy Christopher does a beautiful job describing the Outback. But there is a third character…The Australian Outback. We don’t know anything about the search for Gemma or what Gemma’s family and friends are going through. We do not get to see any of the outside world while Gemma is with Ty in the Outback. For most of Stolen, there are only two characters–Ty and Gemma. I understand Gemma’s Stockholm Syndrome because I feel it, too. Gemma’s feelings for Ty ring true because Lucy Christopher created such a compelling character in Ty. And I wasn’t even upset that Gemma loves Ty. She took me into the mind of Gemma, who resisted Ty as much as she could, but ultimately, she admits that she loves him in a way. She made me like him and worry about his welfare. She managed to make me feel sorry for a kidnapper who drugged a teenage girl. All the professional reviews I read recommend Grades 9-12, but it was in my MS/HS library and quite popular! WHAT I LIKED ABOUT STOLEN Be sure to read my notes for middle school librarians in the “Librarians Will Want to Know” section below. Well worth a read! I think adults would like this, too.

Ty drugs Gemma’s coffee, kidnaps her from the airport, and takes her far from civilization to the Australian Outback. While waiting for a flight at Bangkok Airport, Gemma meets Ty, a handsome stranger who looks oddly familiar.

Stolen lucy christopher book 2