STORY SUMMARY
Jessa Landon is a bus driver for the after school care program at Bright Beginnings Day Care. She picks up several children each afternoon after school at Northridge Elementary and then buses them over to Bright Beginnings. She drives Bus 315. Normally, she has 12 students on the bus, ranging in age from 5-12.
One afternoon, the bus is detoured to a side road....and 2 men with masks jump out and motion them to get into a van. One of the men has a gun. All of the children and Jessa cooperate. There are 10 children, two of whom are Sage, age 12 and her little sister Bonnie, aged 5. Jessa and the children are forced into the van and driven to a quarry outside of town, where they are then forced into a buried shipping container. To close off the top, there is a heavy piece of plyboard with a large container on top. There is also just a small air tube for fresh air. In the bunker are several mattresses, some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some bottled water. There are also 2 buckets to serve as "bathrooms".
Jessa and the children try to stay calm. They play word games and have some sandwiches. The kidnappers, 2 men named Andy and Ted, tell the children and Jessa that once the ransom is paid, they will be released. Sage doesn't think they will be able to last that long. Jessa doesn't think so either. It's dark and cramped down in the ground and they are quickly having trouble getting good breaths.
Time and air are running out......so Jessa and the children work on a way to outsmart their captors ....but will Sage's idea work??
MY THOUGHTS
Wow, this was a good thriller! I read this book in less than a week. It's very well written with excellent character development and setting.
I loved how Sage "came of age" in this book and how she and Bonnie became emotionally closer due to their horrifying experience. I also enjoyed the subplot of Jessa and her past time in prison after surviving domestic violence. I don't want to say too much about Jessa as I don't want to ruin the story for you.
This story is, from the author's notes in the back, inspired by a real kidnapping case in 1976 in Chowchilla, CA. In that case, there were 3 kidnappers, and 26 children with a male bus driver. They were coming home from a summer class trip. I actually remember my parents talking about the Chowchilla case. Look it up if you're unfamiliar with this true event. I was 16 years old in 1976 and remember it being all over the news.
I found no editing errors in this book.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
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