Whatever Happened To Janie? (1994) - Plot & Excerpts
The novel, Whatever Happened to Janie, by Caroline B. Cooney is about a teenage girl that has a difficult time adjusting to a group of strangers that is her family. She grew up with a kind and caring man and woman, but she finds out she has been living a lie and the family she has had is not her biological family; it turns out her “parents’” daughter kidnapped her and convinced the caring man and woman that it was her real daughter—their granddaughter. Janie finds out though that they are not her real family and so does the police. She is then forced to live with her real family which includes four siblings and a mother and father that are a five hour drive away. At first, Janie refuses to let these strangers into her life because she feels she is being disloyal to the people who raised her, but as she begins to open up she realizes that she is not the only one that has had a hard time and that this family has suffered even more than her so she should be making an effort to accept them. She soon concludes, however, that even though this biological family in New Jersey needs her, the family that raised her in Connecticut deserves her because their real daughter turned out to be a criminal and Janie is all they have. Her older brother and sister, Stephen and Jodie, are not happy, and they go to New York in search of Janie’s kidnapper, but soon realize there is not anything they can do about Janie wanting to be with her other family so they resolve to slowly get to know their sister instead of forcing her into a different lifestyle. A theme for the novel is that one should face their fears head on instead of running away from your problems.A character that stood out to me throughout the novel was Janie’s older brother, Stephen. He always seemed to be on someone’s case in the most caring kind of way. He had a hard shell and was intriguing because I was always wondering what he truly wanted. I could not imagine him wanting Janie gone again, but he was always complaining about the way she treated all of them. To illustrate, in chapter eight when the Spring family is at the twins’s basketball game and Janie questions Jodie on her Japanese class he says, “If you had ever looked across the bedroom when Jodie was doing her homework,’ said Stephen acidly, ‘you would have noticed she wasn’t using an alphabet” (66). He is not as much angry at her as he is disappointed in her effort. Stephen knows how much his parents need Janie in their lives and how much they love her and he is upset that she is not putting in an equal amount of work. He does not want his parents to go through pain like they did twelve years prior when she was taken away from them before. I would recommend this book to others, however it is not the same level of suspense as the first novel of the series. I enjoyed the depth and complexity of the entire plot. I like to try and put myself into the shoes of the characters because it is so different than anything I have experienced and hopefully I will ever experience. Janie is forced to live with strangers and her communication with everyone she knew is cut off. She knows a crime has been committed, but there is no real “bad guy” and she searches for a black and white answer but cannot find one. Janie does not even know who she really is. Her situation was unlike anyone at her new school, she could not even decide what to write down as her name at school, “No one else on earth… is taking this particular test. No one else on earth has to pass. No one else on earth has two possible answers to that question” (63). Janie was clearly having a hard time, but she can not manage to think about what the rest of her New Jersey family was feeling. She does not yet understand that they worried about her nonstop for 12 years while she was safe and happy with a different family. The depth of the characters and plot makes it easy to keep reading this novel.
I liked this book a lot more than the first, which is unusual in a series. Lacking all of the friends trying to talk Janie out of what she knew to be true, this one dealt with Jane's many relatives and all of their issues regarding who she is and was and what that means for each individual. The POV changed often but Cooney handled it well so it was enlightening without ever being confusing.The only problem I had was, again, Janie's boyfriend, Reeve. He played a much smaller in-person role, but every time we got inside his head, he was just thinking about sex. Which, of course, because he's 18. But his thoughts are so specifically crude and immature that they're jarring and tend to creep me right out of the story. For example, Reeve musing as he drives to meet Janie that his love for her has never been "mind love, it's always been body love", as if that is somehow superior. I was acutely aware while reading that Janie is fourteen to his eighteen and that he knows it, even if he's repressing the fact. Then they meet up and we learn that he's not repressing it, he's marveling aloud that she's "little; like, really little", and offers to give her "lessons in some other things" beyond their childhood tennis games. Of course Janie is still a child, and that really seems to turn him on. There's nothing in his words to her, or his internal thoughts about her, that suggests this relationship is built on anything beyond Janie's crush on an old boy and the old boy realizing her can take advantage of that to bone her. And bone her he will, no matter how many obstacles are thrown in his path. It's less like a romance and more like a really determined but non-violent rapist. I feel like Cooney thought the story needed a love interest, but learned everything she knows about teenage boys by watching gross-out movies and bad sitcoms. This is a strong book with a lot of insight into and sensitivity toward extremely complicated family dynamics. But it would be a lot stronger without the constant, unnecessary invasion of Reeve's dong. Not to mention the nagging dismay that neither Janie nor the author recognize what a useless dong-centered intrusion he is, so he's probably not going away. At least not until he bones the little girl.
What do You think about Whatever Happened To Janie? (1994)?
t"What normal decent person swaps families as easily as a pair of ice skates?" says fifteen year old Janie Johnson, or should I say Jennie Springs. In the first book, The Face On the Milk Carton, Janie recognizes her face on a milk carton as a three year old girl who was taken from a mall in New Jersey twelve years ago. She finds out that her parents are really her adoptive parents and Janie Johnson was kidnapped before she even met the Johnson's. So who's to blame? It's Hannah. Hannah Javensen, the Johnson's daughter. She came home one day from the cult with a little girl who she claimed was hers and left her to the Johnsons to raise and take care of as their "granddaughter". But the Johnsons were totally unaware that they weren't actually related. Janie was not Hannah Javensen's daughter. With the mystery of this kidnapping now unraveled, Janie's story continues in the sequel Whatever Happened to Janie?. She goes to live with her biological parents, the Springs, and their four children as they discover more information about the women responsible for the separation of their family. Caroline B. Cooney's gripping novel Whatever Happened to Janie is just as engaging as the first one because of how the author gets the reader to connect and feel for Janie and her family. tShallow is one word not to use to describe Janie. For example, when Janie meets her real parents for the first time in twelve years, she reacts how any other average fifteen year old girl would. The Springs are complete strangers to her and she is not just going to go by Jennie, call them mom and dad and say "I love you" in a day.tIn addition, this book as an extremely engaging plot and really hooks you to want to read more all throughout the novel. The Face on the Milk Carton ends in a cliff hanger so the reader wants to go on to the sequel to find out what happens next. You just can't turn away from the book because you want to know if they ever find Hannah, if Janie ever starts to enjoy her real family in New Jersey, what happens to her boyfriend Reeve, and does she ever see the Johnson's again?tAnother good element of the book is how much the reader will connect with the characters. For example, I felt bad for Mr. and Mrs. Springs when Janie wasn't trying her hardest to fit in with the family. She just made her decision that she wanted to be Janie Johnson and not Jennie Springs and they were devastated. The author does a good job making the reader feel like they are there going through all of this with Janie. You can feel the pull on both sides. The Springs have had one less daughter for twelve years and were beyond excited to have her back. But the Johnsons, on the other hand, know Janie as their only child and now are losing her like Hannah and have no idea what they did wrong. The Johnsons were full of desperation, which they showed when Janie said her last goodbyes. "Janie hugged her father one last time, her father said nothing, just kissed his beloved daughter. A single tear came down his cheek, taking its time, finding every wrinkle and crack." But after a shocking decision made by Janie, the feelings reverse.tWith its original characters, gripping plot, and satisfying ending, Whatever Happened to Janie is a great read for anyone who enjoys some mystery.
—Carly
I gave four stars to the first one, this one managed to blow me away.After contacting her real parents, Janie is sent to live with them without contacting home for at least three months. Once there, she is nothing like they expected. Everyone expected her to be happy to be back, instead she acts depressed and wants her old parents back. Her real parents, the Springs, try to compromise, but the problem is the little things like apple juice instead of orange juice in the morning and being expected to respond to Jennie instead of Janie. The best part abut this book was that there was no way it was going to work out, and you knew that from the start. So in the end when Janie deided what to do, you know that it was what she really would do. And you could tell that the author was doing her best to get into Janie's shoes. And Janie's relationships with those around her seemed real, there was great character development.I literally couldn't put this book down, and therefore almost killed myself on the street while not paying attention. A quick, one day read, but very complex and it makes you want more. I can't wait to read the next one!
—Georgia K
tJust as the Spring family forgets about their missing family member Jennie Spring they receive a phone call from than none other than herself Jennie. Janie/Jennie is now having to go to New Jersey to reunite with her long lost family.This wasn’t Janie’s idea she just wanted to let the Springs know she was fine but know she has to leave her Family and enter a new world where things are different. When Janie meets her new family she sees them as aliens from another planet but she sees a resemblance with them. Her sister Jodie is excited but her brother Stephan is mostly angry that she brought misery and pain to their lives. This family has a lot of emotions and is happy that she is home but Janie knows that is she pays attention to one family she will forget the other. Read and see how one person can change everything.The thing that I did not like in this book was that she always cared for the other parent and never pays attention to her birth family. I also didn’t like that most of the settings took up the whole story I thought there would be more adventure like the last book. What I did like is that the story changes perspectives so that way you can see what everyone's thinking. What I think the author is trying to say is that family means everything. I also think that this can involve everyone at anytime so this is a universal theme. I think this is a great book and it leaves you in suspense.
—Cristians
