Former Favorites: The Face on the Milk Carton

Former Favorites is a fairly new feature in which I highlight a book series that I loved as a child. So far, I have done the BSC, Animorphs, Little House, and Sweet Valley. Today's series is:


The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney


There are four books in this fantastic series: The Face on the Milk Carton, Whatever Happened to Janie, The Voice on the Radio, and What Janie Found. I remember much more about the first two than the last two, so I will focus on those.

The series is based around a girl named Janie Johnson who, while eating lunch at school, discovered that the picture of the missing child on her milk carton is actually HER. She recognizes her toddler picture and remembers the itchy feeling of the dress. When I read this in late elementary school, it blew my mind. I couldn't even IMAGINE finding out that I was a missing child. It freaked me out, but was insanely intriguing at the same time.

The Face on the Milk Carton basically follows Janie as she tries to find out who she really is and if her parents actually kidnapped her. Her boyfriend, Reeve, is a major part of the story, and probably one of my first book crushes. He was a bit older than her and pretty awesome, as I remember it. I wanted a Reeve.

One of the great things about this series and all Caroline B. Cooney books is that each book is short. They are pretty appealing to people because of that, especially middle schoolers. She is a great writer and I am always sucked into her books immediately, including this series. Give it a try if you never read them as a kid!