D. Ann Graham Category:  Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Sugar Hill Publishing Type: Fiction Pages: 125 Copyright: Jan 1 2004 Mary Ellen Cooper thinks she knows everything there is to know about life... but she is about to become a statistic. This is the story of a troubled young girl whose parents go to drastic extremes in order to bring her "back from the edge." Her mother is a well-to-do executive in southern California who has spent an amazing amount of money on therapy and help programs for Mary... but all to no avail. Her father is a military officer who has been gone from her life for so long that Mary can't even remember him. After numerous troubles in school and three attempts to run away from home, Mary's mother decides to swallow her pride and get in touch with her ex-husband. Together they concoct a daring plan to save Mary from herself and rescue her from a dangerous life on the streets. What happens is every teenager's dream., This is the story of a troubled young girl whose parents go to drastic extremes in order to bring her "back from the edge." Her mother is a well-to-do executive in southern California who has spent an amazing amount of money on therapy and help programs for Mary... but all to no avail. Her father is a military officer who has been gone from her life for so long that Mary can't even remember him. After numerous troubles in school and three attempts to run away from home, Mary's mother decides to swallow her pride and get in touch with her ex-husband. Together they concoct a daring plan to save Mary from herself and rescue her from a dangerous life on the streets. What happens is every teenager's dream. This ebook is available for $3.50. Simply follow the link below to D. Ann Graham's home page to purchase. Excerpt "What would you do if everyone broke the rules and there was no one but yourself to stand up for you? Listen. The truth is, there's a big ocean of space between the way things are, and the way they're SUPPOSED to be… but nobody wants to admit it. Gets pretty confusing. And believe me, it's awful to be ruled over by somebody stronger than you. It just isn't fair. Dads are supposed to be heroes, right? Well, the first time I ever saw my Dad I couldn't believe we were related."

KIDNAP THIS BOOK!
June 13, 2002


Reviewer: Jane Thornley from Nova Scotia, Canada


THE KIDNAPPING OF MARY is a wonderful read--realistic, quick-paced and funny. I climbed into Mary's head immediately, recognizing the confused, torturous business of growing up. Mary's trying to find herself and so, as it happens, is her estranged father. It just so happens that he catches up with his daughter at that difficult stage where she'll either get it together or totally fall apart. The story is both poignant and simultaneously an adventure that ends where all good stories do--at the beginning of new possibilities. Recommended.