A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard | Teen Ink

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

November 12, 2015
By makaylaowenss BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
makaylaowenss BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Where did she go? Will she ever be found? What made this person think it’s okay to take 18 years out of someone's life? Can you imagine that happening to you? Question, after question. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard will have you asking a lot of questions. Jaycee Dugard was taken at the age of 11 and was saved after 18 years. For 18 years the kidnappers had her in their backyard and brainwashed her, making her think that it wasn't safe to escape. One of the kidnappers Phillip, forced her to have a sexual relationship with him, scaring her for the rest of her life.

Overall I really enjoyed reading the book! The ending was great. This book really made me look at things differently and made me realize that anything could happen to anyone! Some parts of the book I didn’t think that it was even necessary though to add in, there was a lot of minor details. What I take away from this book is that people go through such tragic situations that affect their lives forever. This memoir stretched my reading skills by teaching myself to be a faster reader. There were so many parts where I just wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. This book is a winner for reader that enjoy intense situations.

I believe that the writing style that Jaycee goes with is Descriptive Writing. On page 24 it says “ His hand shoots out of the window so fast I barely register that he has something black in his hand. I hear a crackling sound and I feel paralyzed. I take staggering steps back; fear erasing everything but the need to get away. As the car door opens, I fall to the ground and start to push back on my hands and butt toward the safety of the bushes. Scooting as fast as I can is my only goal---to make it to the bushes away from the man that is coming to grab me. My hand connects with something hard and sticky.” This is the moment that Jaycee is taken. She didn’t have to give us all these details, she could've just said that she was taken by someone random in a car. This type of writing is appealing to me as a reader because I love getting the actual details of a situation and being able to visualize it! Throughout the whole book this is the style that Jaycee seemed to keep up with.

I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. This book definitely had my attention in a lot of parts! It had me wondering about different things, causing me to want to read more but some parts I just was so confused and it wasn't grabbing my attention at all! I think this book is appropriate for ages 15 and up! This makes teenage girls realize that anything can happen at any moment and then I think adults would enjoy reading it also. I don’t think that kids under 15 would like it because I think it would be too scary for them, some stuff in the book I just don’t think they could handle. Overall great book!


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