Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Laurel Leaf
Pages
172
Description
Thriller. Young Adult Fiction. HTML: Edgar Award finalist: When the strange new bus driver passes the last stop, the five teens on board know something's wrong: "[A] gripping thriller." �??Publishers Weekly Valley Gardens is the last stop on the bus route after school. The neighborhood is known for its wealthy families, perhaps the richest in town. Marianne, Bruce, Glenn, Dexter, and Jesse live in Valley Gardens, and have no trouble guiding the new bus driver to the last stop of the day�??but the strange substitute driver keeps driving. Soon the five teenagers are hostages deep in the mountains. Their kidnappers demand stacks of money from their families, even though most of the students aren't as well off as the abductors assume. Without hope of raising the ransom money, the five teens must find a way out or face terrifying consequences. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lois Duncan including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author's personal collection… (more)
Description
The lives of five captives hang in the balance while their families gather the ransom. Two brothers, their family frantic to find their sons. A loner whose uncle doesn’t even know he’s missing. An Army brat whose family will never be able to raise enough money. And a cheerleader who can’t count on her stepdad, but knows her father will come through.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1966
Physical description
172 p.; 6.8 inches
ISBN
0440972922 / 9780440972921
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User reviews
LibraryThing member lyssrose
After reading this, the first thought that comes to mind is "The Breakfast Club on a field trip". You have your "All-American Good Guy", the "Princess", the "Loner", the "Weird Chick", and the "Younger Dweeby Kid", all stuck together as part of a poorly planned group kidnapping plot. The book is
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fairly slim (being originally written for a young adult audience), but I still found the plotline gripping, and pretty much couldn't put the book down once I started it. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibliophile26
A definite guilty pleasure. 5 high school kids are kidnapped because the kidnappers believe they are wealthy...however, appearances can be deceiving. I think these teen horror stories are pretty well-written as fluff goes.
LibraryThing member atdCross
I'm far from young adult but every now and then I'll read books geared to them (for example, the hilarious series,"My Teacher is an Alien").
Ransom had good suspense, an unexpected turn (at least, for me), and well defined characters with interesting interplay between them, espeically between
Ransom had good suspense, an unexpected turn (at least, for me), and well defined characters with interesting interplay between them, espeically between
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Dexter, Bruce, and Jesse. Show Less
LibraryThing member missouriisbeast
it is suspence/thriller that takes place in new Mexico. It is about these kids that all are different have different personalites. They dident know that the substitute is the kidnapper. they figure out that he has a gun and he only wants the last couple of kids to kidnapp because Most of the kids
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famlly has alot of money. It is a great book for people who like suspence or thriller's Show Less
LibraryThing member bloftis
Ransom tells the story of five high school students kidnapped on their bus ride home from school and held for ransom because they live in a wealthy neighborhood and their captors feel they can get money from their families.
The book is extremely effective both because it is exciting and because of
The book is extremely effective both because it is exciting and because of
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the glimpses it provides into five unique high school students. Though the characters in many ways can be considered stock characters, the book serves as an effective morality tale for how high schoolers may react and relate to their fellow students and to frightening situations. High school students can relate to at least one of the characters, while learning the importance of having true relationships with others. Show Less
LibraryThing member Yona
1966 Doubleday library binding - I'm pretty sure it's the first edition.
This is a good suspenseful study for a middle grade story. I've seen it listed as YA. It's not. Unless one gets into the personality study the story isn't going to be exciting for anyone over maybe 15. And the
This is a good suspenseful study for a middle grade story. I've seen it listed as YA. It's not. Unless one gets into the personality study the story isn't going to be exciting for anyone over maybe 15. And the
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personality/psychological study is on a younger level. I debated whether it should get the fourth star as, even for me, it didn't have an ageless appeal. Show Less
LibraryThing member bunnyjadwiga
I believe I was in 5th grade when I originally read this suspense YA about 5 kids who are kidnapped via hijacking their school bus at the end of the route.
There is certainly a wide variety of characters here, some revealed as stronger than they or the others think, and some showing the cracks in
Both the kids and the parents (negotiating with the kidnappers) are developed.
A good 'short book' for a young person who wants something suspenseful, but the fact that more than one plot point turns on telephone communication may make it a bit dated for modern readers.
There is certainly a wide variety of characters here, some revealed as stronger than they or the others think, and some showing the cracks in
Show More
their characters.Both the kids and the parents (negotiating with the kidnappers) are developed.
A good 'short book' for a young person who wants something suspenseful, but the fact that more than one plot point turns on telephone communication may make it a bit dated for modern readers.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnMPK
Pointless and boring.
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Juvenile — 1967)
Call number
YA B Dun