It's My Life

by Michael Harrison

Book Overview

Kidnapped, Martin's life is changed forever. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823413632
• ISBN13: 9780823413638
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: Holiday House
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

It's My Life

A seemingly normal day in the life of Martin was suddenly turned into anything but normal. Every day Martin had a list of chores and a schedule that he was to go by in order to please his mother. However, on one particular day his chores were left unfinished. After Martin was kidnapped and taken to a houseboat, the circumstances around his kidnapping began to unfold. Martin's parents are divorced and he lives with his mother. His father was thought to have recently won the lottery and his mother is just simply a working mother. While being held on the houseboat, Martin figures out that his kidnapper is indeed his mother's boyfriend. The reasons behind his kidnapping are nothing more than greed and jealousy. After his daring escape, Martin runs into his kidnapper's daughter, Hannah. Through a long chain of events, they together discover who is lying and who is telling the truth. Finding his father and thus finding the truth is the pivotal point in the book. What seemed to be a kidnapping with hopes of a ransom, turned into just simply a kidnapping. This story is an adventurous roller coaster through the lives of Martin and Hannah. Through this story, the reader can escape into the mysterious and thrill seeking life of many Americans. It is a book of reality and insight into a child's life that is torn between both parents. This book would be suitable for students fifth grade and above. A teacher could use this book to show the diversity in American families and to bring comfort to those students caught in the middle.

Its My Life By: Michael Harrison Review by: Mimi and Maureen

Michael Harrison does a phenomenal job with this book. Harrison portrays what it is like to be kidnapped. Martin (the main character) has been kidnapped and the kidnapper seems to believe Martins father has won the lottery. The kidnapper tells Martin everything will be okay if he does everything he is told to do. Martin must deal with several facts throughout the story. He first has to deal with being kidnapped, then he is faced with his father winning the lottery and not telling him, he then is faced with dealing with the fact that the kidnapper has some relation to his own mother. Martin remains frightened throughout the entire book. With the help of Hannah, Martin will be okay. Hannah and Martin work together as a team to escape from the kidnapper. This is truly a remarkable book. The author does a marvelous job portraying Martins fears, but also illustrating how Martin overcame his fear. We suggest this book to everyone. It is appropriate for ages 9 and up to read. It is not a hard read and one can learn so much from this book. We gave this book four stars!!!

Its My Life By: Michael Harrison

Michael Harrison does a phenomenal job with this book. Harrison portrays what it is like to be kidnapped. Martin (the main character) has been kidnapped and the kidnapper seems to believe Martins father has won the lottery. The kidnapper tells Martin everything will be okay if he does everything he is told to do. Martin must deal with several facts throughout the story. He first has to deal with being kidnapped, then he is faced with his father winning the lottery and not telling him, he then is faced with dealing with the fact that the kidnapper has some relation to his own mother. Martin remains frightened throughout the entire book. With the help of Hannah, Martin will be okay. Hannah and Martin work together as a team to escape from the kidnapper. This is truly a remarkable book. The author does a marvelous job portraying Martins fears, but also illustrating how Martin overcame his fear. We suggest this book to everyone. It is appropriate for ages 9 and up to read. It is not a hard read and one can learn so much from this book. We gave this book four stars!!!

How Brave!

For the young characters Martin and Hannah we can only think of the word brave!! These two children are from divorced homes and have to live with parents who are continuously deceiving them. Martin's mother devised a plan to have Martin kidnapped by her secret boyfriend (who happens to be Hannah's father) for money that does not exist. Martin's mother believes that his father, whom he does not live with, has won the lottery and she plans to get half of the earnings through ransom. Hannah's father is the co-conspirator with Martin's mother. Although Martin and Hannah did not know each other prior to the kidnapping, the way they met and resolved the kidnapping problem was quite brave and intelligent. This book is suspenseful and surprising with exciting twists and an outcome that was certainly wished for. We highly recommend this book for young adults.

Excellent!

I think this book is really good!! It's about this guy called Martin who gets kinapped by his mum's boyfriend. The whole plan has been made up by Martin's mother to get half of the money her ex-husband has won in the lottery. But the catch is that there is no money. This is a good read! And it left me reading the last page to find out what happens.