Student Book Review:


Where are the Children

by:Mary Higgins Clark


Review done by:

 Dede Sattar
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Where are the children is a very exciting mystery. It is set during the present time. It takes place in Cape Cod. It is a thrilling novel that I could not put down!
This novel is about the Eldredge family. Ray and Nancy Eldredge have two kids named Michael and Missy. They live in a friendly neighborhood, that you would never expect anything out of the ordinary would happen. Nancy is a very quiet person. She does not like to be involved in many community activities. This is because during Nacy's first marriage,to her ex-husband Carl, Her two kids, Lisa and Peter, were kidnapped and killed. She had to go to court as a suspect and so did her husband. Everybody suspected that it was Nancy. They felt that she wanted to kill her children so that she could be with Rob. Rob was a student at the university where Carl worked. Rob came to their house a couple times to fix their heater. He liked Nancy because she was a very beautiful, and was not much older than him. When Rob was on the stand he had to talk about his relationship with Nancy and everything that she said to him. The case was never really solved, it faded away after time. Nancy moved on with her life to try and forget about this terrible tradgety in the past. She was so afraid of people recognizing her from the case. She didn't want to have to go to another trial. She wanted a normal life. This was not possible for Nancy though. Missy and Michael become kidnapped. It was like repeating the past for her. She had no idea where here kids were, and what was going to happen to them.
Soon after her children were kidnapped, it was all over the news because of the search party that was out looking for them. When people start to recognize her from the other kidnap of her children the whole trial comes back up. Nancy has a very difficult time trying to talk about the death of her kids and her ex-husband Carl to the police. The police stay with Nancy and Ray asking them all kinds of things. Some people start to believe that Nancy killed her kids and is pretending that they are kidnapped. Ray doesn't believe them though, he knows his wife would never kill her own children. What happens to Missy and Michael, and who kidnapped them. You have to read the book to figure it out.
Where are the Children is a very suspenseful novel. It keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is not very difficult to read. If your looking for a thrilling mystery I would recommend this one. I have read some other books by Mary Higgins Clark and I feel this is the best one yet!

Student Book Review:


Where are the Children?

by: Mary Higgins Clark


Review done by:

 Lisa
Grade 7
Van Antwerp Middle School
Niskayuna, NY

Where are the Children is a very suspenseful and deceiving mystery. It is about a woman named Nancy who's children have just been kidnapped. The thing is, this is her second marriage, and her second set of children. Her children from the previous marriage had also been kidnapped. They had been found a few weeks later, drowned and bloated in the ocean. Nancy had been accused and convicted of murdering then and was sent to jail for a few years. When she got out of jail, she moved away and got a whole new identity. She changed her last name from Harmon back to her maiden name. She later met Ron Eldridge, whom she ended up marrying. She had two more kids, and started a whole new life. She was very happy, but then the nightmare started all over again. She went out in the backyard one day to call in her children, Michael and Missy, and found that they were gone. The only thing that was left was Missy's little red mitten. She becomes totally disoriented, feeling that the children's kidnapping is all her own fault. She is so upset, that she can't even tell the police any information about her past, or the present. She is thrown into a world of deception and disbelief. She has no idea who to turn to, for almost everyone suspects Nancy of killing this set of children just like people thought she killed her other kids.
I really enjoyed this book because it keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the book. You are wondering about her past life and her other kids, and you always want to know if Michael and Missy will be returned safely.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries. It is definitely an exceptional book, and, though it's little bit hard, it really is worth your while.
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