The Face on the Milk Carton

Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on the Milk Carton is a work of young adult fiction originally published in 1990. The first of “The Janie Books,” it has sold over 4 million copies, spawned five sequels, and was adapted into a 1995 TV movie starring Kellie Martin. The novel was often challenged or banned after its publication due to its references to cults and sexual activity. This guide references the 2012 paperback edition.

Plot Summary

Fifteen-year-old Janie Johnson lives with her parents, Miranda and Frank, in an upper-middle class Connecticut suburb. The novel appears to take place in the late 80s and early 90s. At lunch one October day, Janie sees a photograph of herself as a young girl on a milk carton. The carton says that Janie’s real name is Jennie Spring, and that she was kidnapped from a New Jersey mall at age three. Janie tells her best friends, Sarah-Charlotte and Adair, about the photo, but they do not take her claim seriously.

Janie saves the milk carton. She feels distracted and disoriented by her discovery, and by memories of her kidnapping that begin to resurface. In some of the memories, Janie leaves her family in the mall to have ice cream with a nice woman.