The Kidnapping of Suzie Q. - Softcover

Waddell, Martin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0763603813 ISBN 13: 9780763603816

Publisher: Candlewick, 1997

Synopsis

Kidnapped by amateur thieves and taken to a remote shed, Suzie Quinn makes a brave effort to escape

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A taut, realistic thriller from Waddell (Tango's Baby, 1995, etc.) featuring a feisty, thoughtful heroine. Suzie is kidnapped in a botched supermarket hold-up in rural Northern Ireland. Kept by the three young criminals--Gerard, Dodie, and Leo--because Leo, the leader, mistakenly believes she can identify him, she is imprisoned in a freezing stone hut near an abandoned quarry while her keepers try to figure out what to do with her. She details her ordeal while also depicting her family's harrowing days and nights trying to avoid the media and pry information out of the patronizing police. Considerably more intelligent than her captors, Suzie not only relates the events, but keeps up a running commentary on her own actions and motives, as well as those of the kidnappers, police, and everyone else involved. The terrifying events, the incisive and dispassionate analysis provided by the victim/narrator, the alternating structure, and the recognition of the darkly humorous absurdities involved combine to keep the suspense high, the action gritty, and the novel as realistic as tomorrow's headlines. (Fiction. 14+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Booklist:

Gr. 7^-10. Headed into the grocery store with her mother to pick up last-minute items for her brother's birthday party, Suzi Quinn is taken hostage when the store is robbed by three masked bandits. Convinced that she has seen and recognized him, the trio's leader refuses to release her, so all four escape, with Suzi bound, blindfolded, and gagged in the back of the van. Thus begins a harrowing experience for Suzi and her terrified family as they wait for, at least from Suzi's perspective, a bumbling police force to rescue her. As a matter of fact, everyone--robbers, police, and Suzi--seems inept: the robbers gradually reveal their identities to their captive, the police drop a variety of balls throughout the case, and Suzi makes several ill-fated escape attempts, all designed, apparently, to either increase or defuse tension. Although it is difficult to muster much concern for Suzi simply because of the book's flippant tone, the startling jacket illustration and the story's reading ease will entice even the most reluctant reader. Frances Bradburn

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0763603813
• ISBN 13: 9780763603816
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176
• Illustrator: Jones Richard