Taken by Edward Bloor

Taken
I read this book for my YA book club. We tried to choose books that would be appealing to both boys and girls, since we have one boy in our group of 10 girls. The boy dropped out - but we stuck with our book selections.

Taken is set in the future, 2035. In the future, kidnapping is such a lucrative business that the rich have currency vaults, their children have trackers inserted somewhere on their persons, the help consists of people who will be willing to die for you, and they live in gated communities - and rarely leave!

Charity Meyers goes to school via satellite, buys her clothes online, and only has one friend. Taken refers to what happens when someone is kidnapped. Such as Charity. The rule is the families have 24 hours to follow the kidnappers demands and the book opens with only about 12 hours left.

It's a very interesting concept. I didn't think the Mickie Meyers character, Charity's ex-stepmother, was believable. Everyone did what she said but it was noted that she wasn't very bright. She disrupted the satschool classes and the Meyer's everyday life - and they let her.

Other than that - it was a pretty good middle grade mystery. Lots of twists and turns. There were some scenes that might make it a little YA though - such as how Charity and her friend Patience make fun of the background of their names. But, I would recommend it to people looking for a quick read.

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