COUNTERFEIT SON

Counterfeit Son. Alphin, Elaine Marie. New York, New York. Puffin Books. 2000.

Annotation: After escaping from seven years of unspeakable horror, an abducted child takes the identity of another missing boy in an attempt to lead a normal life.

Rejection: Elaine Marie Alphin's Counterfeit Son is an intriguing and often frightening story about abduction and physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. While I found some of the descriptive text chilling and the story of hope it sells positive, I also found it to be extremely predictable. That is why I have chosen not to nominate this book for the Mock-Printz Award. This is the first book for the course that I have not nominated. It is well written from a narrative standpoint but I recall thinking about twenty pages in that "i know how this is going to turn out." However, Counterfeit Son does drive a parent to think about their children and just how unsafe and terrible the world can be for them. I did find that that aspect of the book has stuck with me, as a parent.