THE VOICE ON THE RADIO

Janie, who was kidnapped from her birth parents at age three and ended up with the Johnson family in Cooney's The Face on the Milk Carton (1990) and Whatever Happened to Janie? (1993), is finally coming to terms with her past. She's also recovering from years of intense media notoriety and wants to be a normal high school senior. Her biggest problem is missing her boyfriend, Reeve, away at college in Boston. Reeve isn't very happy either, but not because of Janie. On campus he's just another face in the crowd; in his quest for attention, he becomes a talk show host on the college's radio station. He has little to say at first; to avoid dead air he tells the one story he knows well, of Janie's kidnapping and the incredible events that followed. The show's a smash and so is Reeve- -until Janie finds out. Heavy on a plot that gallops along, this novel is weak on just about everything else—especially Reeve's characterization. Cooney tells readers how wonderful he is (and he was, in the first two novels), but he comes across as a weak and selfish rotter; Janie's forgiveness is a bit of a leap. Scenes of newfound understanding between Janie and her birth family keep the story afloat—just barely—but despite the flaws, Janie's fans will love it. (Author tour) (Fiction. 12+)