How Do You Spell Abducted?

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Tyler Adaskin is bitter because his ex-wife, who has legal custody of
their three children, has accepted a job in a distant locale, thereby
drastically reducing his visitation opportunities. When Tyler takes the
children on “vacation” to the United States, it isn’t long before
12-year-old Debbie, the story’s narrator, figures out that abduction
is her father’s real objective. Together with her sister Paige and
brother Cory, she plans and executes her escape and return to Alberta
and Mom.

Most of the story is convincingly written. The heated verbal exchanges
between the estranged parents and between siblings Debbie and Paige have
a particularly authentic ring; Cory’s utterances, by contrast,
sometimes seem too mature for a preschooler. The children’s journey
home is exciting if not always believable. Appropriately, Cherylyn
Stacey avoids a “happily-ever-after” ending while still leaving open
the possibility of an eventual reconciliation between father and
children. Recommended.