Janie Johnson series

The Jennie Spring/Janie Johnson series is a series of a young adult novels written by Caroline B. Cooney. The series consists of four novels, all written in English, and all published in the United States. The series follows events in the life of the main character, Janie Johnson, who is fifteen when the first book opens.The series consists of:
*"The Face on the Milk Carton" (1991)
*"Whatever Happened to Janie?" (1993)
*"The Voice On The Radio" (1996)
*"What Janie Found" (2000)

The Face on the Milk Carton

Janie Johnson is a fifteen year-old girl who has a regular life. She attends high school, has a boyfriend, and wants her driver's license. While at lunch one day, she grabs a friend's milk carton which changes her life. She recognizes the "missing person" photo on the back of the milk carton; it happens to be herself when she was very young, dressed in a white polka dotted dress. The milk carton says that Jennie Spring was kidnapped from a New Jersey mall when she was three years old. Janie believes the carton must be some type of joke because her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, are very loving parents. Janie tries to put it out of her mind, but she begins having flashbacks, or what she calls "daymares", of events and people that don't fit in with her current life. She "remembers" other children and a woman who is not Mrs. Johnson.

Janie goes to the attic and rummages through the boxes that she finds there. In the boxes she finds school papers with the name Hannah. She also finds the polka-dotted white dress that she saw on the milk carton. When confronted by Janie, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson explain that Hannah is their daughter, and that Janie is Hannah's daughter, their granddaughter. Hannah was a confused child and joined a cult at a young age. She was married to one of the men in her cult and one day showed up at the Johnsons' house with Janie. Hannah returned to her cult, and the Johnsons ran with Janie fearing that the cult would try to get her back. The memories Janie had were probably of her life in the cult before coming to the Johnsons. Janie is relieved that the people whom she believed to be her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, were not kidnappers.

However, Janie cannot get the picture on the milk carton or the memories of another family out of her mind. She researches the Jennie Spring kidnapping. She comes to the conclusion that her parents might have actually kidnapped her. But, she still loves them and tries to forgive them. Still, Janie and her boyfriend Reeve go to New Jersey to see the Spring family with their own eyes. The entire family has the same red hair that Janie has. It is evidence that Janie can't ignore, but she tries to anyway. She writes the Spring family a letter, but she doesn't mail the letter because she is still unsure about what to do. While at school, Janie loses the letter and the decision of whether to tell or not is taken out of her hands, as she realizes that someone might have dropped it in the mail. She and Reeve go to her parents and confront them with everything they've learned. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are shocked. They figure that Hannah was probably the one who kidnapped Janie; they also decide that the Springs must be called. Janie tries to keep them from telling anyone because she loves them very much and doesn't want to hurt them. But Janie's mother is adamant, the Springs have been without their daughter for too long. At the end of the book, Mrs. Johnson calls the Springs and Janie talks to what might be her real mother for the first time.

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Whatever Happened to Janie ?

Janie is taken from her adoptive parents, the Johnsons, and goes to live with her biological parents and four siblings, the Spring Family. Although all of the Spring family members are eager to include her, she desperately misses her adoptive parents whom she is allowed no contact with so she is emotionally aloof. As things start to improve, though, they experience a setback when the FBI shows up to question Janie. Finally, Janie asserts her desire to return to her adopted family, and her biological parents love her enough to let her go. However, Janie's siblings, angry and upset that they are once again losing their sister, journey to New York to find the woman responsible for everything. They are sent home by a police officer who tells them that while they may not have had their justice against Hannah, they do have their sister back and should enjoy that more than anything. But can Janie?

The Voice on the Radio

The kidnapping is long past. Janie is relieved that life seems to be settling down but she misses her boyfriend Reeve Shields, who is away at college at Boston. As for Reeve, college life seems overwhelming; when the opportunity for fame in a late-night gig at the school radio station proves irresistible, he finds himself spilling Janie's story over the airwaves. Reeve is so sure Janie will never discover what's making his broadcast such a hit that he doesn't stop himself. Meanwhile, Janie has developed a closer relationship with her biological family, the Springs. Her sister, Jodie Spring, has college interviews in Boston, including one at Hills College, where Reeve attends. Brian, Janie and Jodie's younger brother, tags along, as does Janie. They plan to surprise Reeve by showing up. At the hotel, they tune into Reeve's radio station and hear Reeve doing "a janie" as it was known in Hills College. When Janie finds out that her beloved Reeve is making all her business public Janie, Jodie and Brian flip. Janie breaks up with Reeve and asks him to not call or come to her house again. Though Reeve claims he still loves her and only made a mistake, Janie refuses to forgive him, but that's not the question it's what to do because she still loves him. Throughout the rest of the book Reeve tries to talk to Janie and explain things to her, but Janie keeps refusing to be with him. Near the end of the book, Janie tells Mrs. Spring what happened in Boston, and she suggests Janie forgives Reeve, or at least speaks to him. In the end Janie decides to talk to Reeve about what he has done.

Additional Info: During his show Reeve gets a call from a women calling herself "Hannah". Rather than face the possibility of talking to Janie's kidnapper, he hangs up. "He could destroy all the tapes in all the radio stations in Boston...if Hannah decided she wanted airtime, somebody else would give it to her. He had no control. For the first time in his life, he was standing in the middle of a situation that would do whatever it wanted."

Later during this book, Reeve's sister, an attorney who had assisted Reeve and Janie from the beginning, states that her further research into this case has revealed that Hannah was already deceased (and could not have been that caller).

What Janie Found

Janie Johnson/ Jennie Spring's two families appear to have made peace. Life seems almost normal. Janie has even decided to speak to her former boyfriend, Reeve Shields. But when Janie's Connecticut father Frank Johnson suffers a stroke, and the tragedy leaves her mother reeling, Janie must step in to manage family finances and to emotionally support her mother.

While handling her father's bills, Janie discovers a fact that could destroy both of her beloved families; and she alone must decide what to do.

Janie realizes that Frank had been financially supporting Hannah Javensen (H.J.), his long-lost daughter and Janie's kidnapper. Janie is furious and uses a visit to her brother Stephen Spring as an excuse to see Hannah and confront her. At the end of the book, Janie finds peace with her older brother. She forgives Reeve and falls for him again, and they (supposedly) get back together at the end of the book. However, Janie never finds Hannah.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1995, "The Face on the Milk Carton" was combined with "Whatever Happened to Janie?" and made into a movie for television, distributed by Fox Family (now ABC Family), directed by Waris Hussein and starring Kellie Martin.