Janie Face to Face (The Face on the Milk Carton Series)

My book came undamaged. This series holds a special place in my heart. Saw the movie when I was very young and am finally getting around to reading the books. Has not disappointed!

I read The Face on the Milk Carton as a young girl and thoroughly enjoyed it. So naturally, I was excited to read the rest of the books in the series, once I found out there were more.**SPOILER ALERT**Pro's: The book is very suspenseful, like all of them, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Cooney does a good job of highlighting where each character is at now in their lives and development, and we get a (mostly) satisfying end to the story, that ties up a lot of the loose ends about Hannah. There's also a happy ending for Janie and Reeve, which I really appreciate.Con's: While this book gives more insight into the character of Brendan, who we hardly knew anything about before, it barely touches on Brian's character. Also, a couple of things really didn't seem to make logical sense to me. For one, it didn't seem believable that Janie would go so quickly from dating Michael, to jumping back into the arms of Reeve. However, at least even the characters in the book themselves admit that this was fast-paced and impulsive of her. And, I suppose, it makes more sense considering that they did have a long history together, and he was the love of her life, since high school... but still. Wouldn't she need more time to process everything, before just running off and suddenly getting engaged? Also, I didn't like how she seemed to jump so quickly from calling herself "Jane" with her college friends and Michael - to Janie again - and then, finally - back to "Jennie", and even geting married as Jennie Shields. I think it would have been awesome if, at the last minute, she chose to stick with "Janie" still, and her New Jersey parents just had to understand. Then again, I guess that's part of the whole dilemma, because if she chooses one name, one set of parents will be happy, and the other sad, and vice-versa. So I guess there's no winning with that one. Lastly, I would have liked to see more action with the character of Hannah, and maybe a chance for Janie herself to say something to Hannah in person, to provide more closure for the whole ordeal. I also wish the ending hadn't portrayed Frank and Miranda as so frail and broken. If they could have somehow been happier and more at peace, that would have been nice. However, maybe the other way is more realistic.What I probably enjoyed the most was the section at the end that contained the author's comments on the different events that inspired her to write each book. I found that very fascinating. All in all, a good book, although not as spectacular in my mind as the first (but then, that would be very difficult to match!)

I am ecstatic to have stumbled across this book. I was a "Face On The Milk Carton" fan since 1991 all the way through the final, or so I thought, book written in 2000. I was going through boxes in my parent's attic, much reminiscent of the Hannah boxes, and I found these books again. After posting on social media my rekindled joy with this series along with a photo of my original cover book, I clicked on my "The Face On The Milk Carton" hashtag. To my surprise, I found out about the short e-story, "What Janie Saw", and this new as-for-now final book in the series. While reading this latest chapter had me re-reading, what felt like, almost the entire first 4 books in various snippets and chunks, I was continuously drawn in to the story of Hannah as well as picking back up on Reeve and Janie/Jennie's life together. But, most of all, I love that this book ends with no neatly-wrapped conclusion. There is still room for yet another book to be written, whether full-length or short story. And with that gives us as the readers and lovers of this series some tangible hope that someday, maybe, we will be invited to experience yet more to The Face On The Milk Carton story. And for that, I cannot wait! Thank you, Caroline B Cooney, for being a part of my childhood (as I was 10 years old when I read the first book) and continuing into my adulthood now at 33 years old. I eagerly await what's next!

On the one hand, this book has some continuity issues and the plot isn't particularly thrilling, but it was a nice, neat way to wrap out the series. Purely for nostalgic reasons, I was never going to hate this book. I grew up with the first four books and I've read them a handful of times over the years, so unless something went horribly awry, I was always going to enjoy it. That being said, I think if I were ever to reread the series again, I would probably skip this one.I won't go into detail in regards to the continuity issues; they're pretty blatant and easy to spot and mostly the result of trying to keep the stories "current." The main issue is that the plot of the story is so low-stake. The looming threat of the book never felt particularly threatening. It's not poorly written, but it isn't as suspenseful as the previous books.In rating this book, I waffled a bit between three and four stars because on the one hand, it wasn't a particularly great novel, on the other hand, but it did make me happy to have a resolution to the story.I suppose it comes down to your need for resolution and love of nostalgia versus how picky you are.

I teach reading in Rosenberg, TX, and started reading this 5 book series after exploring the back cover summary. I was captivated immediately to this plot because who would ever imagine seeing their own picture on the face of a milk carton? My copies of this 1st book are all coming apart as a result if being read by so many teens in my 8th grade class year after year. I highly recommend this mystery, thriller to all middle school teachers, to have in their classroom libraries. I know this book will entice many kids and they will fall in love with books. They will want more!

Excellent speedy service and book as described

The first four books I read when I was a kid. I always remembered the story when asked about my favourite books growing up. I recently found them again in storage and when I discovered there was a 5th and final one, it was a no brainer. For anybody who has read the first four, this is an absolute must! I haven't completed the book yet but there is already so much information! I didn't think I could hate Hannah so much!!!!

Loved all 5 books in this series!!

They stayed together, Janie and Reeve. This is that story, and there's one more book to go. Looking forward to it :)

Finally an ending that almost everyone likes. The Prince gets his princess and everyone is happy, typical happy ending. During the book the complicated family relationship is thoroughly explained.