7.8 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Media type Print Followed by Flyaway Page count 304 Nominations Michael L. Printz Award | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 304 Originally published 2009 Genre Young adult fiction ISBN 9781906427139 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Young adult fiction books Girl - Stolen, How I Live Now, Midget, Blood Promise, Fireworks and Darkness | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stolen is the debut novel of author Lucy Christopher. It was published in the UK in 2009. The book is set in the Great Sandy Desert in the Australian Outback and is the story of 16-year-old Gemma, and twenty-four-year-old Ty (which is a nickname for Tyler). Subtitled A Letter to My Captor, the book is told in second person narrative as a letter from Gemma to Ty as she waits in Perth after her eventual release.
Contents
Plot
Whilst at a Bangkok airport, 16-year-old Gemma was kidnapped by Ty from a coffee shop, after he drugs her coffee. He took her to Australia, to the middle of the desert, expecting her to fall in love with him. Gemma disapproves of Ty but after an incident she develops a soft corner for him. Ty has a nightmare about his past and shouts and screams until Gemma gets up and consoles him. Still Gemma has not entirely forgiven Ty and tries to escape by taking his vehicle but does not succeed as the truck gets stuck in the desert. Ty rescues her and takes care of her until her burns have healed. Now Gemma has started to think of Ty in a good way and Ty is happy with that. Ty wants her to realize the importance and beauty of nature which was the main reason he built this house in the middle of the desert. For this purpose he paints his entire outhouse and himself with colors that resemble nature. And this does it. That day Ty and Gemma fall asleep outside the house, on the sand itself. Gemma has now started falling for Ty. The next day Ty leaves to collect snakes as their venom is essential for the anti-venom that he is preparing. He leaves a note for Gemma about his whereabouts and unfortunately Gemma goes in search of Ty behind the house near the water reserve and there a snake bites her. Ty takes Gemma to the mine site/civilization for her treatment after the anti-venom that he had preserved is out of date. He is arrested and whilst receiving treatment for her ordeal she is told that any feelings she had for Ty were due to the Stockholm Syndrome.
Characters
Gemma Toombs - Lived in England up until her kidnap. Gemma never agreed with her parents on anything and always argued with them. She traveled regularly due to her parents' job. Gemma attempts to escape multiple times, but always Ty brings her back to the house in the desert. She finds a friend in the camel, Wubbleguts, they catch together. When a snake bites her and the antivenom Ty had is ineffective, he brings her to a mining town for medical help. She thinks that she might really love Ty, until her doctors and parents convince her otherwise.
Tyler "Ty" MacFarlane - Was born and raised in Australia at his father's farm. He ran away at a young age and lived wild off the land. Eventually he was captured and sent to his mother in England. Here he led a troubled life of drink and drugs. He met a young Gemma, fell in love with her and decided the only way to have her would be to kidnap her and take her to the middle of the Great Sandy Desert.
Publishing history
Stolen was first published in the UK in 2009 by Chicken House. The first American edition was published by Scholastic in 2010. The book has been subsequently translated into French (as Lettre à mon ravisseur, Gallimard, 2010), Dutch (as Brief aan mijn ontvoerder, The House of Books, 2010), Greek (as Apagōgē, Ekdoseis Psychogios, 2010), Danish (as Stjålet: Et brev til min bortfører, Carlsen, 2011), and German (as Ich wünschte, ich könnte dich hassen, Carlsen, 2011)