Vanishing+Acts

==== I found the book Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult to be very intriguing because it dealt with controversial issues and had a wide range of characters. The plot is based on the kidnapping of a 4 year old girl named Bethany Matthews. The kidnapper however, is her father. He escapes successfully to New Hampshire and presides there for 28 years under the false identity of Andrew Hopkins. His daughter also receives a new identity. 28 years later, Bethany finds out her entire life from the time she was 4 years old has been a lie. She begins to question everything, wonder who she is really, daydream about the possibility of having the mother she has always dreamed of and asking herself what is so important in her life she'd risk anything and everything for //"As in her previous novels, Picoult creates compelling, three-dimensional characters who tell a story in alternating voices about what it might mean to be a good parent and a good person, to be true to ourselves and those we love. Picoult weaves together plot and characterization in a landscape that is fleshed out in rich, journalistic detail, so that readers will come away with intriguing questions rather than pat answers" -Boston Globe// It is easy to see why this book was a best seller: relativly short chapters and an easy reading level. The plot involved family, love, and crimes - key components in attracting a large group of teen and female readers. Although I am a fan of Jodi Picoult, I did not think this was her best book by far. I apprecitated the way each chapter was from a different character's point of view however, I felt some of the incidents were highly unrealistic. Altough there was alot of action in this novel, I did not feel it was all explain throughly. Until I reached the last 150 pages, I had to force myself to pick the book up and read, because the beginning was slow. I was also resistent of this book because I could not relate to it - AT ALL! ====     //I personally think Vanishing Acts is overrated and her other best seller, The Pact, was written much better and had a better plot. Other works include: Change of Heart (2008), Nineteen Minutes (2007), The Tenth Circle (2006), My Sister's Keeper (2004), Second Glance (2003), Perfect Match (2002), Salem Falls (2001), Plain Truth (1999), Keeping Faith (1999), The Pact (1998), Mercy (1996), Picture Perfect (1995), Harvesting the Heart (1993), Songs of the Humpbac Whale (1992).//     Check out JodiPicoult.com for more information on her and her books!