The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan

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Summary:

A riveting tale about love and sacrifice by a National Book Award winner.

The Disappeared. Los desaparecidos. This is the name given to those who opposed Argentina’s dictatorial government and were kidnapped to ensure their silence. With her hometown of Buenos Aires ensconsced in the political nightmare, Silvia devises a plan to save her missing brother. She’ll make Norberto, son of the general who arrests dissenters, fall in love with her–and he’ll have his father set Eduardo free.
Told in alternating chapters, this powerful and poetic story follows Silvia as she spirals into Norberto’s world, and Eduardo as he struggles to endure physical and emotional torture. Will Silvia’s scheme reunite her family? Or will the pursuit of freedom cost these devoted siblings their lives?
Summary taken from Goodreads.com
So the other day I was looking for a book on one of my rare trips to the Teen section in the library looking for a book and I spotted this one out of the corner of my eye because the cover is BEAUTIFUL! I think it's stunning so without even glancing at what it was about I added it to my stack of books that I'd be borrowing.

It wasn't until I came home that I read the inside cover to see what it was about that I realized I could use it in my Around the World Challenge. This book took me back in time to 1977 in Argentina where the political climate was tense and the country was in a state of unrest and upheaval.

 The story is told in alternating chapters by 2 teenage siblings Silvia and Eduardo. Eduardo is unhappy with how the government is running his beloved Argentina and begins protesting unfortunately it isn't long before he gets put in an unpleasant situation and the army comes and takes him from his home holding him prisoner.

 Silvia, and their parents are distraught over Eduardo's kidnapping and Silvia decides to rescue her brother by getting friendly with a big time generals son in hopes that he could help set her brother free. Sadly this is not the case and the only reason they are both freed is thanks to the general's wife who hates him for turning their son into a monster.

 I wish that the book was as good as it sounds but for me it wasn't. I wasn't a fan of the authors writing and I thought her "voice" was too uppity. I did like the subject matter though because she brought this issue to the attention of the readers perhaps giving them a reason after they read this book to learn a thing or to about the country of Argentina. The story while I appreciate her efforts was written far to stifly and I didn't care for the switching from Silvia's point of view to that of her brother.

 Despite the book not living up to the expectations I had for it I did enjoy learning about what was happening in Argentina at the time because I don't know much about Argentina and I while I was there in this book that I've walked away knowing things I didn't know before.

★★