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The Kidnapping of Courtney Van Allen & What's-Her-Name
Courtney Van Allen is twelve, rich, and famous. Her baby picture is on a cereal box and there's even a car named after her. Jan Travis is almost twelve, not rich, and not famous. On the night the friends are celebrating Jan's birthday, the two girls are kidnapped. But the kidnappers demand something other than money.
175 pages, Library Binding
First published July 12, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 2, 2011
This is a wonderful and fun children's book. The author was my 5th grade teacher. This was her first book she had published. She sent me a signed copy after I had moved back to Alabama from Californa because my mom died. I'll never forget it!
October 29, 2008
i absolutely adored this book as a kid.
the narrator is a girl who lives downstairs from a woman whose niece or granddaughter (it's been a while) is the daughter of someone famous, and the daughter comes to visit the relative, who has a pet tiger (or jaguar?) and other magnificent eccentricities.
the famous girl (courtney van allen of course) and her friend are kidnapped and held for ransom because of the van allen fortune, and all of the press coverage refers to the poor friend as "what's her name" or "that girl" or "and a friend."
wonderfully entertaining, although the new york hijinks are way more fun than the actual conclusion, to be honest.
my favorite part is that one of the girls (wow, it's been a long time) has written "drop dead" on her clothes. it was so very winona ryder and i adored that.
the narrator is a girl who lives downstairs from a woman whose niece or granddaughter (it's been a while) is the daughter of someone famous, and the daughter comes to visit the relative, who has a pet tiger (or jaguar?) and other magnificent eccentricities.
the famous girl (courtney van allen of course) and her friend are kidnapped and held for ransom because of the van allen fortune, and all of the press coverage refers to the poor friend as "what's her name" or "that girl" or "and a friend."
wonderfully entertaining, although the new york hijinks are way more fun than the actual conclusion, to be honest.
my favorite part is that one of the girls (wow, it's been a long time) has written "drop dead" on her clothes. it was so very winona ryder and i adored that.
August 13, 2010
This is my absolute favorite book from when I was a kid...I still have my copy of it and I plan on keeping it forever and ever! This story is sooooo cute and funny. The distict personalities of the characters are very hilarious in their own ways. The harmony of the plot line with the characters is.....harmonious!
July 7, 2016
I haven't read this in at least 20 years but I remember that I enjoyed it.
October 31, 2022
The Kidnapping of Courtney Van Allen
Jan Travis goes to visit her Aunt Harriett in New York who lives in a penthouse on Fifth Avenue. Aunt Harriette is a little bit eccentric and have a jaguar named Miranda living with her. Yet and still she’s Jan’s favorite aunt. It’s almost Jan’s 12th birthday and she’ll be staying with for a week while her parents go to Europe for a conference.
Aunt Harriett arranges for Jan to meet Courtney Van Allen whose rich and famous. Her mother is a well-known actress and her father has his hands in some of everything and owns several businesses). Courtney’s face has also appeared on cereal boxes all over the world because she has her own cereal “Courtney Crummies”.
Courtney is staying with her grandmother for the summer. Jan is nervous to meet her, but she looks nothing like the girl she’s seen in the Weekly Reader. Courtney is dressed in an outfit she’s worn for 40 plus days (that says “Drop Dead”)and her hair is stringy and unwashed. She tells Jan she’s a “dropout” from society and is rebelling against everyone her governess (Denise), her grandmother, and her mother.
The next day Jan and Courtney meet up to go to the museum, but even though Denise is supposed to watch Courtney and protect her from kidnappers, she will let Courtney have her space and in turn she gets to have her space. She tells them to meet her at 4. Only Courtney talks Jan into riding the subway (something Jan is forbidden to do). They ride for a while and go underground and stop at a shop and get cokes. It’s there Courtney discovers she dropped her change. Luckily Jan has enough to get a ticket back. But they get off at the wrong stop and get lost. When Courtney’s grandmother and Jan’s aunt come to get them neither of them are happy about it. Denise angrily calls Courtney a brat but then tries to correct it in front of Jan and her Grandmother.
The next day is Jan’s birthday and she and Aunt Harriett are going to see a play and later they’ll come home have dinner and open Jan’s presents. Jan decides to invite Courtney to the celebration and her aunt agrees (because it’s clear Courtney is lonely),
Courtney calls and invites Jan to a therapy session with her psychiatrist Hugo (a very hyper man whose a terrible psychiatrist) who falls asleep during the session (he does this a lot).
Jan has a great birthday. She gets a portable tv, radio, and cassette player (from her mom and dad), a thousand dollars, a snake, and diary (from Aunt Harriett), and some cassette tapes (from Courtney). After dinner and cake, she gets to spend the night at Courtney’s.
Denise comes in (in) the middle of the night and tells them they’re going to Long Island. Hugo joins them in the car and tells them Courtney’s grandmother will meet them there in a few days. They arrive at Miss Fanny’s house (Hugo’s mother) and Courtney and Jan are shown their room by William (the butler). It’s an amazing, humongous, playroom, but the weird thing is it doesn’t have a telephone.
When they search the house in the morning, they find a theatre covered with posters of Fannie herself and Sylvia (Courtney’s mom). Then they find out Hugo is writing a screenplay and the only way it will be a success is if a “certain actress” is in it. Weirdly enough they don’t know they’ve been kidnapped until they see a news broadcast on Jan’s tv (the house doesn’t have tv either).
Courtney gets the idea that she’ll fake like she’s dying and they’ll have to take them to the hospital to see a doctor. So Jan sneaks into Denise’s room to get a tube of her red lipstick, but Denise almost catches her and she has to sneak out with the lipstick and her gun. The scheme goes well at first until Hugo tells Courtney *he* is a real doctor and Denise finds her lipstick, the tv, and the gun in the closet.
Hugo tells them that they aren’t in any danger and that he only wants to meet Sylvia. He tells them they aren’t prisoners and to explore the island. While exploring the island, they see Courtney’s parents and Aunt Harriett on the news. Later Sylvia says she was contacted by “Junior” to meet up with her. While exploring the beach they find a shack with a boat inside. Jan and Courtney are able to escape but while out on the sea they drop the compass they confiscated from Hugo.
They come in contact with a ship and are rescued. Hugo and Denise are apprehended and Hugo confesses that he never wanted to harm Sylvia (like Courtney thought) he just wanted to meet her and discuss his play.
My Thoughts:
Now I remember what I liked about this book. It was Fannie Violet’s house. This is the kind of home that I would have loved to visit. The bedroom overlooked the sea and had four different sections (a playroom, a library, and a sitting room). It also had an old theatre. This kind of house probably even had secret hidden rooms.
And what kind of kidnapping even is this? This has GOT to be one of the most thoughtful and most kind the BEST kidnapping I ever heard of! Is this a kidnapping or a vacation? I truthfully don’t even see why they were trying to escape. They were in this intriguing, amazing, mansion that has a beach. They weren’t in any danger or being tied up or forced to do anything against their will. Hugo doesn’t even like to raise his voice at them. And as a villain, he’s pretty tame. Does anyone else hear “Lil Sweet” saying about Denise “It’s the sweet one”? There’s a freaking THEATRE where they get to watch a matinee with popcorn and jujubes for God’s sake! If *this* is a kidnapping then I’d gladly trade places. They don’t even take the TV (which I thought they were gonna do when they found it). Hugo even gives them a bedtime of 2 AM in the morning! If only *all* kidnappings were like this.
”. They knew that Sylvia would probably agree to anything Hugo wanted so was it really necessary to escape? I really kind of felt bad for Hugo. Sure, he had mental issues but he just wanted to meet his idol. And I get what it’s like (well not to kidnap someone) but wanting to meet someone just THAT badly that you’re willing to go to EXTREMES to get a little of their time. But that play of his a trapeze artist falling in love with a horse. YEEAH! NOWAY would Sylvia agreed to have been in that? I actually hoped after this that Hugo got help and worked out the kinks of his play and got the shine he was after.
Rating: 7
Rating: 7
Jan Travis goes to visit her Aunt Harriett in New York who lives in a penthouse on Fifth Avenue. Aunt Harriette is a little bit eccentric and have a jaguar named Miranda living with her. Yet and still she’s Jan’s favorite aunt. It’s almost Jan’s 12th birthday and she’ll be staying with for a week while her parents go to Europe for a conference.
Aunt Harriett arranges for Jan to meet Courtney Van Allen whose rich and famous. Her mother is a well-known actress and her father has his hands in some of everything and owns several businesses). Courtney’s face has also appeared on cereal boxes all over the world because she has her own cereal “Courtney Crummies”.
Courtney is staying with her grandmother for the summer. Jan is nervous to meet her, but she looks nothing like the girl she’s seen in the Weekly Reader. Courtney is dressed in an outfit she’s worn for 40 plus days (that says “Drop Dead”)and her hair is stringy and unwashed. She tells Jan she’s a “dropout” from society and is rebelling against everyone her governess (Denise), her grandmother, and her mother.
The next day Jan and Courtney meet up to go to the museum, but even though Denise is supposed to watch Courtney and protect her from kidnappers, she will let Courtney have her space and in turn she gets to have her space. She tells them to meet her at 4. Only Courtney talks Jan into riding the subway (something Jan is forbidden to do). They ride for a while and go underground and stop at a shop and get cokes. It’s there Courtney discovers she dropped her change. Luckily Jan has enough to get a ticket back. But they get off at the wrong stop and get lost. When Courtney’s grandmother and Jan’s aunt come to get them neither of them are happy about it. Denise angrily calls Courtney a brat but then tries to correct it in front of Jan and her Grandmother.
The next day is Jan’s birthday and she and Aunt Harriett are going to see a play and later they’ll come home have dinner and open Jan’s presents. Jan decides to invite Courtney to the celebration and her aunt agrees (because it’s clear Courtney is lonely),
Courtney calls and invites Jan to a therapy session with her psychiatrist Hugo (a very hyper man whose a terrible psychiatrist) who falls asleep during the session (he does this a lot).
Jan has a great birthday. She gets a portable tv, radio, and cassette player (from her mom and dad), a thousand dollars, a snake, and diary (from Aunt Harriett), and some cassette tapes (from Courtney). After dinner and cake, she gets to spend the night at Courtney’s.
Denise comes in (in) the middle of the night and tells them they’re going to Long Island. Hugo joins them in the car and tells them Courtney’s grandmother will meet them there in a few days. They arrive at Miss Fanny’s house (Hugo’s mother) and Courtney and Jan are shown their room by William (the butler). It’s an amazing, humongous, playroom, but the weird thing is it doesn’t have a telephone.
When they search the house in the morning, they find a theatre covered with posters of Fannie herself and Sylvia (Courtney’s mom). Then they find out Hugo is writing a screenplay and the only way it will be a success is if a “certain actress” is in it. Weirdly enough they don’t know they’ve been kidnapped until they see a news broadcast on Jan’s tv (the house doesn’t have tv either).
Courtney gets the idea that she’ll fake like she’s dying and they’ll have to take them to the hospital to see a doctor. So Jan sneaks into Denise’s room to get a tube of her red lipstick, but Denise almost catches her and she has to sneak out with the lipstick and her gun. The scheme goes well at first until Hugo tells Courtney *he* is a real doctor and Denise finds her lipstick, the tv, and the gun in the closet.
Hugo tells them that they aren’t in any danger and that he only wants to meet Sylvia. He tells them they aren’t prisoners and to explore the island. While exploring the island, they see Courtney’s parents and Aunt Harriett on the news. Later Sylvia says she was contacted by “Junior” to meet up with her. While exploring the beach they find a shack with a boat inside. Jan and Courtney are able to escape but while out on the sea they drop the compass they confiscated from Hugo.
They come in contact with a ship and are rescued. Hugo and Denise are apprehended and Hugo confesses that he never wanted to harm Sylvia (like Courtney thought) he just wanted to meet her and discuss his play.
My Thoughts:
Now I remember what I liked about this book. It was Fannie Violet’s house. This is the kind of home that I would have loved to visit. The bedroom overlooked the sea and had four different sections (a playroom, a library, and a sitting room). It also had an old theatre. This kind of house probably even had secret hidden rooms.
And what kind of kidnapping even is this? This has GOT to be one of the most thoughtful and most kind the BEST kidnapping I ever heard of! Is this a kidnapping or a vacation? I truthfully don’t even see why they were trying to escape. They were in this intriguing, amazing, mansion that has a beach. They weren’t in any danger or being tied up or forced to do anything against their will. Hugo doesn’t even like to raise his voice at them. And as a villain, he’s pretty tame. Does anyone else hear “Lil Sweet” saying about Denise “It’s the sweet one”? There’s a freaking THEATRE where they get to watch a matinee with popcorn and jujubes for God’s sake! If *this* is a kidnapping then I’d gladly trade places. They don’t even take the TV (which I thought they were gonna do when they found it). Hugo even gives them a bedtime of 2 AM in the morning! If only *all* kidnappings were like this.
”. They knew that Sylvia would probably agree to anything Hugo wanted so was it really necessary to escape? I really kind of felt bad for Hugo. Sure, he had mental issues but he just wanted to meet his idol. And I get what it’s like (well not to kidnap someone) but wanting to meet someone just THAT badly that you’re willing to go to EXTREMES to get a little of their time. But that play of his a trapeze artist falling in love with a horse. YEEAH! NOWAY would Sylvia agreed to have been in that? I actually hoped after this that Hugo got help and worked out the kinks of his play and got the shine he was after.
Rating: 7
Rating: 7
May 14, 2019
I read this book when I was a kid. As a preteen, it was that magical book that turned me onto reading. I still have my original hardback copy, sent to me as part of a monthly book club that my grandma had subscribed me to (against my will). Other books sent to me by this book club, such as Island of the Blue Dolphins, were a yawnfest to me back then. But when I picked up this little gem, I loved it so much that it created a thirst for more humorous contemporary novels. As an adult with teenagers of my own, I still adore this book. With a cast of quirky, colorful characters, random events, and funny dialogue, you can't go wrong with this one.
November 10, 2022
I loved this book growing up and I ordered it on Amazon to read to my son. I can’t wait to start reading it with him. Right now we are finishing Holes and then we will watch the movie.
I can’t wait to revisit this book. I remember wanting to try Jujubes candy because I never heard of it until reading this book.
I can’t wait to revisit this book. I remember wanting to try Jujubes candy because I never heard of it until reading this book.
December 19, 2017
When I was in elementary school I took this out of the school library about a hundred times. I decided to re-read it as an adult, and it still had some charming moments.
October 5, 2018
Other than several misuses of God's name, this was a fun story with some quirky characters.
December 4, 2021
One of my childhood favorites.
May 9, 2022
Fun story. Some of the characters were well written and some weren’t. Still a fun kids book.
January 27, 2025
I read this in the 1980s and could never remember the title or find it. Just saw the Pin on Pinterest!!! My 5 Star rating is from my memory of my youthful self loving it.
July 20, 2025
Very cute book, would recommend. Funny and heartwarming. About a rich girl and average girl becoming friends, and getting kidnapped.
October 12, 2014
I just finished this book and it was a pretty good read. Courtney Van Allen's character was pretty amusing and Jan Travis' character is pretty relatable to me for some reason. The plot was pretty creative and the story was really well-paced and made me want to keep reading to find out what happened next.
Plot synopsis: is that Jan Travis is staying with her Aunt Harry (short for Harriet) for two weeks while her parents are away on a business conference. While there, she meets Courtney Van Allen, the daughter of famous actress Sylvia Sutton and senator Van Allen. The two become good friends-and must work together when they are kidnapped. Especially since the kidnappers aren't demanding money.
While the book took a pretty long time to get to the titular kidnapping (we don't even learn officially that the girls had been kidnapped until page 116 of 175) But the girls' antics up until then were entertaining enough to keep me from being bored. And the behaviors of the kidnappers were very amusing as well.
Anyway, this book is a nice, quick read for anyone who likes humourous stories. You won't be disappointed.
Plot synopsis: is that Jan Travis is staying with her Aunt Harry (short for Harriet) for two weeks while her parents are away on a business conference. While there, she meets Courtney Van Allen, the daughter of famous actress Sylvia Sutton and senator Van Allen. The two become good friends-and must work together when they are kidnapped. Especially since the kidnappers aren't demanding money.
While the book took a pretty long time to get to the titular kidnapping (we don't even learn officially that the girls had been kidnapped until page 116 of 175) But the girls' antics up until then were entertaining enough to keep me from being bored. And the behaviors of the kidnappers were very amusing as well.
Anyway, this book is a nice, quick read for anyone who likes humourous stories. You won't be disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2015
It was awesome. It is funny how jan travis thought courtney van allen was going to be glamourus. Instead courtney is wearing a shirt that says drop dead and worn out jeans with lots an lots of patches and under one it says......... I said drop dead. my favorite part was when courtney pretened to be dying. I'm really dramatic so the usually the dramatic parts are my favorites........ bye.
March 22, 2016
I loved this book as a child & decided to read it aloud to my kids. It is a very different read as a parent! When I read it as a child, I never considered the feelings or fears of the parents. As a parent, it was all I could think of as I read. All in all, it is still a fun story, my kids loved it, & I enjoyed it as well.
December 1, 2016
I just finished my book and Jan and Courtney were home safe. Jan and Courtney got a call from the president to come to a picnic. After the experience Jan started writhing in her 5 year diary about how she got kidnapped. Jan wrote "dear diary let me tell you about the crazy adventure I just went on." (Joyce Cool, pg. 175.) Overall this book is an outstanding five stars.
April 16, 2011
I am rating this with five stars even though I haven't read this book since I was 11. As a young girl, I admired the characters, especially their hilarious and brave antics. I'm pretty sure this book was the main reason why I couldn't wait to ride Manhattan's subways by myself.
February 26, 2014
This is a cute children's book on reading level 5. It's about two 12-year old girls who are kidnapped, one is probably the richest and most famous girl in the world. However, the kidnappers are very nice to them. It's a funny story with a lot of quirky characters.
November 4, 2008
this book is so funny and i wish i could see the lady with purple hair ! Aunt Harry and Uncle Marion LOL!!!!!
January 12, 2009
This was a really good book, I loved it.
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January 21, 2009JMAR5-Coo
August 7, 2010
This is a slapstick young adult novel I got from Wegmans when I was ten or so. It still makes me laugh.
March 26, 2012
This use to be my FAVORITE book for a very long time.
July 8, 2012
This is one of my favorite books as a kid. I think I've read it at least 20 times, and I just had to find a copy of it online, since I've lost my own version. It's hysterical!
May 13, 2013
Ha! I loved this book when I was in grade school :)
January 17, 2017
My favorite childhood book.
January 11, 2021
This is one of my favorite childhood books.
September 22, 2008
My all-time FAVORITE book as a kid. I always wished I could have their adventure.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews