Product Description

TRAPPED!

Featuring original works by:

Apollo, Joan Bauer, Francesca Lia Block, Gary Crew, Lois Duncan, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Gillian Rubinstein, David Skinner, Marc Talbert, Rob Thomas, and Rita Williams-GarciaAmazon.com Review
Subtitled Cages of Mind and Body, this collection ofshort pieces by critically acclaimed young adult writers explores theplethora of ways in which human beings can feel like trappedanimals. Lois Duncan edited the collection, and in her introductionshe tells readers that the theme was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's"The Cask of Amontillado," a story she still finds"resurfacing in fever dreams in hideous detail." Poe'sterrifying tale is about a character being sealed alive into a crypt,but Duncan has not limited her foray into claustrophobia tohorror. Humor, romance, fantasy, and adventure all make appearanceshere, as do a variety of literary forms, including the traditionalshort story; a play by Rita Williams-Garcia; an unusualdual-perspective piece by Walter Dean Myers; and poetry written byDuncan during her teenage years. Topics range from physical toemotional to mental entrapment--Francesca Lia Block writes about theshackles of anorexia, Rob Thomas explores a day of upheaval at abattered-women's shelter, and Joan Bauer takes a humorous look at afastidious pancake-house waitress overwhelmed by a sudden Sundaymorning rush. Readers will not only find the stories compelling, butare also sure to recognize the queasy sensation of beingtrapped. --Brangien Davis ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Trapped... weird book
This is a strange and demented book that will make you wonder how these stories might have come about. You have nothing to worry about if you read this book because after each short story is an author's note about why they wrote their story. The stories are about how a human can feel trapped in a cetain siuation, may it be mentally, or physically. The author of the story has something to relate to their work in their note. The psycological ways of our minds is unveiled in Trapped!. The uncomprehensible human mind is manipulated and isolated in words to show our fear and apprehension. If you read it, you might learn the ways of nature, and how humans react in a situation when they are TRAPPED!

This book is SO good!
Some of the stories in this book were a little boring but I really loved Pancakes by Joan Bauer and the Woeful Princess. It's really worth reading the book cause all the stories are interesting. Just some are a little slow. Read it!

I loved this book!
This book was simply wonderful. It was interesting to read the different definitions of the theme "trapped" illustrated magnificently by these extremely talented young adult authors. I loved the story"pancakes" written by Joan Baurer, and "the WoefulPrincess" and "Fountain of Youth" was good too. If you'relooking for a good read, you should definately buy this book. Trust me,it's worth the sixteen bucks!

Excellent Short Stories
If you like Lois Duncan, you will love this!! It shows a different side of everyone from all sorts of views.My personal favorite was "Pancakes" by Joan Bauer.A Must Have!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Tracy, a high school junior, becomes embroiled in the problems of a strange boy, who asks her assistance in "snatching" his half-sister from her father who has allegedly kidnapped her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

supensful and twisted
amazingly suspesful. you never will see it coming until she shoves it down your throat, just chocking you with suspense and suprise. slightly creepy, and compleatly suspensful. great for teens. the writing is great to. good book, gave it a 4 because it almost had too many twists

A page turner
Again, Lois Duncan wrote a page turner. When i started reading this book i could not put it down. It was so good. It was filled with mysteries and detective work. What i really liked about this book is that Lois Duncan left the ending for the reader. The reader can assume the ending the way they want to. A really good book.

The Twisted Window
I can't exactly say how I feel about the authors writing. It is different from most styles I usually read. I guess I could say that I liked it. I pretty much agreed with the author's opinions and everything. The only part I didn't agree with was when Jamie was a girl and not a boy. I thought that Jamie should have been a boy because it would have made more sense. Also, making Jamie a girl, the author made a dramatic change which I wasn't expecting.
The plot was good because it was different than what books are usually about. But the problem was that I knew he was crazy and that it really wasn't his baby sister but someone else he kidnapped. At first I thought he was going to steal the baby for money but towards the climax I learned that he was crazy and had no idea that what he was doing was wrong.
I think this would be a pretty good book for young adults to read. I don't think teachers should use this book in their classrooms because it isn't that type. Usually when we read books in classrooms, there's a moral to it or a type of message. This book doesn't exactly have an moral or an important message. The only message I can think of is don't trust anyone no matter how believeable their story is.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy suspense and dramatic changes in the plot.

Audrey S. review
I liked this book a lot. Some parts were funny and some were sad. It is a really good mystery book.
A teenage girl, Tracy, got tangled up in a big mess when, Brad asked her to help him find his baby sister. Tracy agrees to help find his baby sister, Mindy. When they find Mindy, Brad gets excited. Brad and Tracy decide that Tracy will go undercover as Mindy's babysitter. Then Brad will take Mindy back home, to New Mexico, and leave Tracy tied up somewhere, so that it looks like a robbery. It did not work out the way they planned. But they got away with Mindy. Once they are in New Mexico, Tracy finds out that they have the wrong baby.What really happened to his sister Mindy? Now she does not know if Brad is really who he says he is.
I would recommend this book to someone who likes to read mystery books because this book is one big mystery.

Is awsome
This is a really great book.There a lot of suprises in it.When you think you fingure out what happen then suddenly the whole book changed.I personally love Tracy because she is like me.Rebellious but really smart and can fingure out things easily.I love Cricket too because she is a cute little girl who loves her parent very much.If people who love surprise in books this is the book for you ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Now known as Ransom, but five teenagers are still missing
This book is now known as Ransom; it's extremely hard to find as Five Were Missing.Lois Duncan's young adult books tend to divide into two categories, those involving the supernatural and those involving plain old real-life suspense, and this falls in the latter category.Five Were Missing is about five teenagers who get kidnapped on a routine bus ride home:two brothers, a quiet girl who is an army brat, a girl dealing with her broken family, and a shy slightly dorky boy.Duncan does a good job of weaving the lives of the teenagers' and their families into the plot at hand.Like all her novels for young adults, her characters are fully evoked and have their own pasts and backstories, but are also resourceful and strong enough to intrigue even older readers.

Great Book -- Definitely a Good Read
I really like the way this book sets up the plot. It tells the captivating story of 5 kidnapped teenagers.

A Great Book For Anyone!
I read this book for a book report and it was a really good book. Almost anyone could find interest in this book. It is a great book Lois!

It was an enthralling book.
I just read Five Were Missing, and I liked it very much. It was enjoyable, and I couldn't put it down. Great Book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The best!
i read this book in like 2 hours and i'm only11! it tells so much of her life and everything why she's always wanted to be a writer. whoever wrote this book, thank god for that author! it talks about her disability. ohgod, i felt so sorry for her.this book has some things that i didn't reallyknow about her. well i just recomend this book to you. and if i had 5hands, i'd give it 5 thumbs up! ... Read more

Product Description
When Andi's brother Bruce wants to enter a dog-themed film-making contest, Andi jumps at the opportunity to become a screenwriter. But neither of them expects what happens next -- a producer wants their movie! Can Andi and Bruce's show (and dogs) go Hollywood?

... Read more

Product Description
When Andi's brother Bruce wants to enter a dog-themed film-making contest, Andi jumps at the opportunity to become a screenwriter. But neither of them expects what happens next -- a producer wants their movie! Can Andi and Bruce's show (and dogs) go Hollywood?

... Read more

Product Description

Featuring Original Stories by

Alden R. Carter
Terry Davis
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Pete Hautman
Liza Ketchum
Gail Carson Levine
Winifred Morris
Graham Salibury
Gloria Skurzynski
William Sleator
Rich Wallace
Ellen Wittlinger
Amazon.com Review
In a third collection of riveting youngadult short stories, following Night Terrors andTrapped!, LoisDuncan draws on her experience as the award-winning author of morethan 40 young adult suspense thrillers to put together a choiceselection of tales about being on the brink. A dozen stellar teennovelists--including fresh new talents Ellen Wittlinger and GailCarson Levine--have each contributed an original story in which ayoung person is on the edge mentally, physically, orpsychologically.

In Graham Salisbury's "The Ravine," a boy teeters on the cliff of ahigh jungle waterfall, but then proves himself by refusing hisfriends' challenge to jump. In "Fine?" Margaret Peterson Haddixbrilliantly depicts a young girl's sense of alienation from "normal"life as she waits in the hospital for a diagnosis of terminalillness. Alden Carter displays previously unsuspected comic talentwith "Pig Brains," in which a boy goes way out on the edge to vanquisha bully with a well-planned gross-out. William Sleator, in"Unbalanced," makes us hope for more stories drawn from hisexperiences as a rehearsal pianist for the Boston Ballet. Terry Daviscrafts a heartbreaking scenario for a cinematic episode about theflight of Hmong refugees from the Pather Lao. Other stories by PeteHautman, Liza Ketchum, Winifred Morris, Gloria Skurzynski, and RichWallace explore different aspects of brinksmanship, in a collection(perfect for reading aloud) that will have teens tracking down thenovels of these authors. (Ages 10 and older) --Patty Campbell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Will keep you on the edge
This is an anthology (third in a series edited by Lois Duncan) concentrating on kids who are each "on the edge" in one way or another and how they deal with their individual issues.

As is manyanthology books, the stories are hit and miss but most of them kept myattentipn and many I thoroughly enjoyed. Personal favorates include "Pig Brains," byAlden Carterabout a boy using unusual methodsto get rid of a bully (funny and gross),and "Fine?" by MargaretPeterson Haddix, about a girl reasessing her life while waiting in thehospital for a diagnosis of her terminal illness (touching and brave).

Many of the authors are new to me, but after reading their contributionsI find myself wanting to check out their other works.This is a good bookif you are looking to delve into the psychology of young adults today anddiscover some of the everyday - and sometimes not so everyday - hardshipstheir endure.Overall an interesting read. ... Read more

Product Description

Lois Duncan is known for award-winning suspense novels, such as I Know What You Did Last Summer. Few people know she has led a secret second life as a poet. From early childhood, Lois chronicled events of her life in verse. At ten, she began submitting her poetry to magazines.

Since then, Lois has written hundreds of magazine articles and forty-eight books. She is the recipient of the “Margaret A. Edwards Award”, presented by the American Library Association for an “outstanding contribution to literature for young adults”. Renowned as a novelist, she kept her poetry notebooks tucked away in a drawer “like a secret vice”.

Generations of readers who grew up on “Lois Duncan” books have been urging her to write her autobiography. That task seemed formidable until she began to leaf through those notebooks. There, she found herself in every season of her life—a dreamy child, entranced by fairies and magic; an adolescent, embroiled in turbulent romances; a busy young wife and mother; a heartsick divorcee; a remarried, middle-aged housewife, watching children leave the nest; and then, as a grief-stricken mother, struggling to cling to sanity after the murder of her youngest child.

Seasons of the Heart is the deeply personal story of an “ordinary woman”, told in an extraordinary way.

“It was with a strong sense of kinship that I read Seasons of the Heart. The romanticism of the young girl; the passions, frustrations and heartbreak of motherhood; the quiet joys of aging, all are captured in the deft and disciplined cadence of poetry.”—Lois Lowry, twice winner of the Newbery Award

Customer Reviews (1)

Classic Poetry Compiled for the Whole Family
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher of Reader Views (9/07)

When most people hear the name of author Lois Duncan, they think of her 48 best-selling novels or her most famous one, "I Know What You Did Last Summer," not a beautiful book of poetry."Seasons of the Heart" came about when this award-winning novelist was approached over and over again about writing her autobiography.She realized that she had a collection of poems that she started writing at the age of 10 that chronicled her life and this book is that collection of poems.

"Seasons of the Heart" is broken down into seasons of Lois Duncan's life.Springtime is the beginning of her life through the school years.Her collection of poems began at the age of 10 and I was amazed at the quality of her writing at such a young age.She must have been an English teacher's dream. The poems expressed the joy of discovery and frustrations of being a teenager.

Summer was about Duncan's early adulthood.This included her marriage at 19, the joy of being a mom, and the heartbreak of divorce when she was 27.She became a single mom to three young children when her husband fell in love with someone else.She left Florida and struck out on her own in New Mexico.After several successful years supporting her kids, she got remarried and had two more children.Her second marriage has been a very happy one.My favorite poem from this group was "the Requiem for a 40th birthday."

Autumn was a good time for Duncan.Her career took off, she graduated from college at 43 and she enjoyed watching her family grow up.The poems from this time period poked fun at the aging process - "Ode to my teeth."

Winter was a heartbreaking for Duncan because her youngest child was murdered shortly after high school graduation in 1989.Frustrated by the police dropping the investigation, she published her best seller "Who Killed My Daughter."After receiving several death threats, she relocated to Florida to her roots.She and her husband Don created a Real Crimes website in 2002 to help families keep police cases alive.She keeps hoping that her daughter's crime will be solved. Her poems - "the glasses" and "the first Christmas without her," will bring tears to your eyes.

The book ends with poems from a second spring.The poems from this era reflect her enjoyment at being a grandmother. The poems are written for her grandchildren and often include lessons about bad habits.

Overall, I found "Seasons of the Heart" to be a beautifully-written book with a wonderful approach to an autobiography.All audiences would enjoy it, from teenagers to poetry fans, and especially Lois Duncan fans (that would include almost everybody!).

... Read more

Product Description
Now, don't get scared, but-you see that cage?
And that snarling tiger, so filled with rage?
That Jungle Cat is so mean and wild
That he dreams of eating a Circus Child!

Little does that jungle cat know you don't play rough with the kind of kids who are raised in the world of the circus! They're brave, they're spirited, and they're not about to become tiger food. Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, presenting the silliest romp ever seen under the big top! Featuring the vibrant work of a talented new artist, Lois Duncan's comedy of errors will leave a trail of smiles from start to finish. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Book
My four year old daughter and I checked this book out from our local library, and it was love at first read.The language is rhythmic and poetic (fantastic for reading aloud), and the story is lively and engaging.The book tells the story of two children raised in the circus.When a ferocious tiger escapes his cage, it looks as if one or both will be eaten--but not these brave children!They tell the tiger to stop and obey the laws of the circus (like not eating people), and, obediently, he stops and returns to his lair because "you don't mess around with that kind of kid."The story is empowering for young readers, emphasizing bravery in the face of adversity and manners in the midst of chaos.My daughter wants to check it out again at every library trip, so I've just bought her her very own copy.

Poetic, whimsical, brilliant !
This book about a "terrible day at the circus" is one of the wittiest, most intelligent children's books I've ever read. The rhythm of the lines is beautiful; the rhymes are natural; the story is intriguing. Our now 3-year-old has been enjoying it for about 9 months now, and still asks for it constantly... esp. after a trip to the circus!

This book has it all for kids!
This is a terrific children's book!The writing is both whimsical (the tiger "doesn't like the food at the circus" so he chases the two circus kids) and rhythmic.The illustrations complement the author's sense of humor.My son thought a book about a tiger chase was "awesome, mom!"We read a lot of books around our house and this is by far one of my favorites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

I've recommended this to my writing students for years...
... and even though it is out of print, it is still worth tracking down a copy.The best thing about it is how phenomenally resourceful Duncan was about turning the everyday stuff of her life into page-turning reading.Would that I had one-tenth of her bubbling creativity!This is one to read and re-read.

Great Advice
This book is out of print but it's worth it to track down a used copy. The book gives a lot of wonderful advice to anyone thinking about publishing articles, short fiction, poetry, and novels. Lois Duncan is very encouraging. It's important to have a bit of encouragement when there are so many people around to tell you how difficult breaking into writing may be. Lois Duncan gives you so many avenues to get started that your doubts will be taken away. There are a couple of outdated sections, especially one focusing on using a computer to edit your work. (I believe the printing of this book was in the mid 80's). I'd also find a more updated resource on the how-to's of presenting your manuscript. But overall there are some great tips and ideas that will get the creative writing juices flowing. Highly recommended.

Absolutely fantastic inspiration!
If I had to identify one book that started me publishing, it would have to be this one.Duncan gives some very good tips on how to start, and although I have yet to have a $1000+ sale, I have been steadily working and improving.If my basement apartment hadn't flooded, I'd still have mycopy--I inhaled almost every word, and still have great swatches memorized! Buy it, you won't regret it! ... Read more

Product Description
Eighty-one museum-quality photographs depicting circus performers, their families, the animals, and the circus crew complement a text that discusses the era of the traveling circus. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the story of 18-year-old Karen Connors who discovers she has the psychic powers of a "third eye" or second sight. These powers are suspected and discovered by a police officer and thus she gets involved in a mass kidnap. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Her Eyes Don't Lie
Let me be the first to tell you that this is a GREAT novel that catches you from the beginning,leaving you intrigued right through till the thoroughly satisfying conclusion!!!!!!!Karen Connors,the heroine of our story(just in case you were daydreaming and couldn't tell by the title) has a special gift that I believe exists in some people by providence.She has the psychic ability to find missing children.
K.C is tossed into a very unpleasant adventure after an evil couple discover her powers and want her out of the way,to leave them free to kidnap the children of a day care centre. ... Read more