Yesterday I read Stolen Children by Peg Kehret.  It is a book for pre-teens but I would advise that your pre-teens be fairly sturdy, at least for the first  few chapters.  In these beginning chapters that set up the action of the novel, our heroine, 12-year old Amy, forgets about a dog-sitting job, loses her father in a car accident, and bears the guilt for his death. His death was her fault and no matter how much she regrets her behavior, nothing will ever bring him back. He had been leaving for work but returned to the house to berate Amy for forgetting about the neighbor’s dog and therefore was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he died.  His last words to Amy before leaving for his date with death were, I’m ashamed of you. Amy tries to overcome her guilt and demonstrate responsibility by taking a babysitting course but when she falls asleep on one of her first jobs, the baby she is taking care of is kidnapped.  And it gets even worse: the kidnappers come back for Amy.

Amy is  a candidate for therapy but instead of a book about the wonders of modern medicine and group therapy, we get a marvelous book about the strength of young people and the tenacity of the human spirit.  Amy could fall apart but she doesn’t.  She uses her brains and the loving memories she has of her father encouraging her in her endeavors, to figure out a way to protect her young charge and keep the child smiling, and at the same time mastermind their joint rescue.  Stolen Children provides a wonderful — and exciting — lesson about the power of brain and heart in all kids, even very ordinary ones that have made mistakes. We are cheering Amy through to the end — and holding our breath until the very last chapter.