The Kidnapping of Courtney Van Allen and What's Her Name tells the story of a girl named Jan who visits her aunt Harry in New York City. While in New York she also meets Coutrney Van Allen, the daughter of a popular TV actress and politician. They are both kidnapped one night by Courtney's mean-spirited nanny and her odd boyfriend who is also Coutrney's psychiatrist. They are taken to an abandoned island where they are joined with the doc's eccentric mother who was once a movie star from the 20s and 30s. Jane and Coutrney launch an escape that almost costs them their lives but gets them home. Besides being hilarious it tells a story of friendship, trust and loyalty. Recommend it to anyone over 11.

Joyce Cool was my fifth grade teacher, and I loved her. She signed a copy of this book for me, and it's one of my most prized posessions. There is one difficulty with this book, and that is that one of the main characters, Courtney, refers to herself as an "outcast," which doesn't make any sense in the context of the book. Miss Cool tol me that she had originally used the word "hippie," but the publishers made her change it because they didn't think kids would know what a "hippie" is. When she was my teacher, in 1986, she was working on a second book about a girl named T.J. (Twilight July), the daughter of famous hippie parents struggling with her parents' notoriety whily she attempts to be a normal kid in summer camp. I'm not sure if this book was ever published.

I read this book years ago, and I can remember laughing until my sides hurt! I even lent it to my mother, who enjoyed it just as much - until she lost the book halfway through the story. :( Even now, she'll occasionally mention it - "Whatever happened to that children's book, the one about 'What's-Her-Name' and the girl who never changed her shirt? I never did get to read the ending..."! This one is far too funny to remain out-of-print - today's kids (and my mother!) are missing out on a great book!