Elizabeth Gilpin's parents had her abducted in the middle of the night and taken to a "camp for troubled teens," where she was forced to live a brutal life in Appalachia. After three months, she was sent to a boarding school that was essentially a prison for "troubled teens," where she was abused and humiliated. She eventually convinced them to believe she was "cured" and could be let out. The book is hard to read, obviously, but not just due to Gilpin's story; it's the other children's stories and how their lives were forever affected by what they went through. And because this is, sadly, not the only book written about this "industry," it's a call to action to dismantle this horrible practice. Very raw and emotional, and very important to read.

I finally understood that I was never going home again. Not really. The home in my mind was no longer a real place. It was a memory of a dead thing, nothing more, and I held a funeral in my mind right there beneath that oak tree.

3.5 stars
This book is a frightening and bold look at the "Troubled Teen Industry." Reading Gilpin's memoir is difficult, both because one wonders what to do for children who are acting out and having trouble, and because one has to read about the worst possible ideas of how to "fix" what's wrong. What happens at these places is nothing short of child abuse and I have to cringe at the idea of Gilpin's parents reading this and finding out what they signed her up for. Because they could not have fully known or understood—to know and yet still send your child to these places should disqualify you from being a parent.

This book is also a story about inner strength and tenacity, because Gilpin has plenty of both to have survived these experiences. She shares the difficulty she had with drugs afterwards, but thankfully she's past that now. Maybe she would have continued experimenting with drugs had none of these "interventions" occurred, but I can't help but think it wouldn't have gotten as bad as it did if it hadn't been for what she went through in the woods and at Carlbrook. I don't know how the adults who were at Carlbrook live with themselves (she shares at the end of the book that it was permanently closed in December 2015, but there are undoubtedly other places like it still out there operating today).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This book explores the "troubled teen industry" through Gilpin telling us her own experiences in a wilderness camp and therapeutic boarding school (Carlbrook). The trauma and abuses she and others experienced in a place meant to HELP them is just horrifying. I have heard more about this industry in recent years thanks to Paris Hilton speaking out on her experience, but I still don't think it is talked about enough. I admire Gilpin's vulnerability and strength spending so much time and energy to get her story out in the world. I only hope that more of the people responsible for these institutions are investigated and given consequences.

The most intriguing part of the book, to me, was the chapter that went more in depth as to how and where from these institutions developed their beliefs and ideologies (a cult! see: synanon) Any institution that uses a one-size-fits-all approach to therapy is a joke, especially when that approach is cruel, abusive, and does more harm than good. The institutions were corrupt in other ways as well; an example given was that the founder of Carlbrook's own mother was an educational consultant encouraging families to send their troubled teens there.

I can't look at this reading experience as "enjoyable" due to the nature of Gilpin's story, but it was incredibly eye-opening and enraging. It has certainly made me want to research this topic further.

Stolen was a really hard book to get through. Not because it was a bad book, far from it, but because of the subject matter. The fear and pain that Elizabeth went through was so hard to imagine. She wrote this book with so many descriptions about what she went through. I felt so much sympathy for her and others like her. This was an extraordinary book which I really enjoyed!

Stolen by Elizabeth Gilpin is a page turner. Her horrible true story of being taken with her parents permission to first a program in the woods that deprived her of healthy food and degraded her constantly and after more than 100 days of that, she was taken to a “school” for further treatment for her so called out of control life. I was added by what she had to go through. I highly recommend this book for teens or adults.
I received a copy of this title from NetGalley.com

This memoir was fascinating and horrifying all at once. I have to admit, I have very limited knowledge of the history of therapeutic boarding school’s outside of this book, and Elizabeth herself even mentions that this book is her experience alone and others would describe a very difference experience. That being said, I felt this was incredibly eye-opening, and it seems to far from any reality I know it almost read like fiction at times. It was clear that writing this book was an emotional journey for the author. I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I tried multiple times to read this book. I just could not get into it. It did not pull me in. I also alternated between the book and the audio. The audio was not good....I know it is the author but it really was hard to listen to. I know many people are giving this book good reviews but it fell very flat for me.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Elizabeth Gilpin for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

“At fifteen, Elizabeth Gilpin was an honor student, a state-ranked swimmer, and a rising soccer star, but behind closed doors, her undiagnosed depression was wreaking havoc on her life. Growing angrier by the day, she began skipping practices and drinking to excess. At a loss, her parents turned to an educational consultant who suggested Elizabeth be enrolled in a behavioral modification program. That recommendation would change her life forever”.

If you need a cautionary tale of why you should listen to/try to understand or level with your children, this book will be vital to you. This is also a potent reminder of how much distress and harm a human can push through and how sometimes they can come out (at least mostly) on the other side of things.
Stolen is also incredibly eye-opening and terrifying in the way that Elizabeth’s experience isn’t a one-of-a-kind thing. It’s harrowing to read one account of extreme emotional and physical abuse and even more so to realize that there are so many others with stories of their own. It’s a lot, but it is also essential.

There was a quote that kind of stuck with me, and it was, “I suffer from depression. I'm not a drug addict, and my anger doesn't come from some unexplainable place. I just have trouble regulating my mood sometimes, just like so many other people I know. I didn't need to be sent away. I didn't need a full-time “therapeutic community.” All I ever needed was for someone to take the time to really hear me. To interpret the cry for help that was at the center of every explosive fight or drunken night. I didn't need tough love. I just needed a little extra help.”

So yeah. I can't really recommend this book enough. It's four stars from me.

This is the story of a girl that was sent to a “Therapeutic Boarding School” for “troubled teens” when she was 15 years old. Elizabeth was an angry child, and as she grew into a teen she had no way to deal with this anger, so she “acted out” by hanging out with the wrong crowd, drinking and buying (but never smoking) pot. Her parents knew she was struggling, and in the end were convinced they should send her to one of these schools. What Elizabeth endured was some of the most horrible things that could happen to a child, and not at ALL what she needed. It is no surprise that when she “graduated” she was no better off, and it took her several years to make her way to a place where she could begin to heal.

I thought the writing was excellent, and while her story was heartbreaking, it was also eye opening. I know these sorts of “programs” are making their way to the news and coming to light now. I can only hope that Elizabeth’s story, as well as the many others, will stop this type of “therapy” and get these kids the true help they so truly need, and deserve.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for this advanced copy. I finished this book in 2 sittings, as I wanted to know what happened. The story was shocking, heartbreaking, and real. I hope more people read this and realize these schools need to be regulated and evaluated.

I couldn’t put this memoir down. Gilpin’s language is so straightforward and unadorned that the reality of the horrors she lived through are starkly rendered. Her strength to survive is impressive. The labor it must have taken to write this book is even more so. Recommended for fans of Educated or The Glass Castle.

I've been in a memoir mood, and thought that the concept of this memoir looked interesting. I had seen the reality TV shows about wilderness programs, where "troubled" teens were taken in the woods to learn how to be better people and had heard of "therapeutic" schools where these teens were ultimately sent in an effort to curb their "troublesome" behavior. So Gilpin's memoir looked compelling.

At the age of 15, Gilpin is living what sounds like a relatively normal teen life. However, she pushes the boundaries and argues with her parents frequently than they would like. Out of desperation, her parents decide to send her away. They hire an escort company to essentially kidnap Gilpin out of her bed while she is sleeping and transport her to a wilderness program, where she has to live in the woods with other teenage girls until the program has deemed her reformed enough to be sent to a "therapeutic" high school. There, the goal is not education but reformation.

This memoir was, at times, painful to read. Gilpin makes it clear that she was suffering from untreated mental health issues during the years before her kidnapping, which led to her acting out. The trauma of the kidnapping, months in the wilderness program, and then years in the therapeutic high school brought was just horrible. I ended up reading the last 75% of this book in one sitting.

Overall, a compelling look at programs designed to help "troubled" youth from someone who experienced them. Would recommend to anyone interested in these topics with the caveat that this is a memoir and as such one sided. I am very much unread in this area, and can't speak to any sort of bias so I would recommend further reading.

This was a well written book with an interesting and heartbreaking story. The author tells some unimaginable truths and some of it is difficult to read, let alone live through. All in all, it was a worthwhile book to read and the author did a good job getting her point across.

I have a lot of respect for the author for writing this book and speaking the truth surrounding her experiences-as I know it must have been hard to do and relive. I also went through similar experiences being sent to a wilderness camp and an all girls boarding school during my high school years, so I could really relate to the author.

With that being said, the writing lacked something for me-it did not pull me in as I was hoping it would and kind of jumped all over the place. I also feel like it was really long and drawn out, some parts could have been cut out or shortened.

However, I do feel that it is worth the read because it is an eye opening account of the truth behind facilities like this and the mental, physical, psychological, and emotional damage places like these have on teenagers.

What the author experienced was horrific, and I definitely get for her and my experience was somewhat relatable. Overall, the book was a bit scattered and lacked that something that pulls me in.

I loved this book!! The author writes with such clarity and colorful prose that I feel like I was right there with her as a youth enduring and persevering through the the many placement facilities and programs she was forced to reside in. There is such horror as she recants her experiences and I rooted for her every step of the way as she let us in on her thoughts through many of the incidents of abuse. If you have a child and if you have ever thought of 'sending them somewhere to make a difference'...Don't.

I knew this would be a difficult book to get through just reading the blurb about it, but it may have just been the most disturbing thing I have ever read in my life. I am so glad this school is shut down now, but it had already had many years to inflict it's damage and trauma upon countless kids, while guising itself as a boarding school to help trouble teens. The tactics they used there sound more like the staff utilizing the students to bully and take their anger out on. If you are easily triggered, this is probably not the book for you, but if you lime reading about people's personal experiences, even if they are tough, you will find yourself turning these lages quickly and shaking your head in disbelief.

I enjoyed the book but felt the author might not have had enough time since her experience to have the full perspective. But it is the author’s story to tell so I appreciated the details given. But it was interesting to hear the story especially since these programs were more prevalent during the time period involved. Also since this involved someone from my state it is always an interesting peek into a situation that happened on a local scale.

Elizabeth went through so much. I know as a teen, this could have been me. Elizabeth did normal teenage things to push her boundaries - smoking week a few times, drinking, and hanging out with boys. I know it's not ideal for a teenager to act like this, but what her parents put her through to "straighten her out" was excessive. I have to imagine that they had no idea what this program was really about, because I can't picture any loving parents actually putting their children through this. This is something we all need to read to see that this is happening here in the United States. Elizabeth was born in 1986, so this isn't something that happened a hundred years ago, this happened in recent times and needs to have some light shed on it. I want parents who think they need a program like this for their children to read this and realize there must be another way. Elizabeth fought to get herself out of this place and has done the work to change her future.

The things that happened before she was shipped off to the woods, smoking, drinking, her temper with her parents and uncontrolled emotions could all point to needing mental health work, but instead her parents and the "therapists" they trusted did more harm than good.

Overall Impression: Wow, this memoir reads like fiction, to the point that I keep forgetting that is really happened.

Stolen is a memoir written by Elizabeth Gilpin about her “troubled teen” years. Elizabeth was torn out of bed in the middle of the night and brought to a camp for troubled teens where they spent days hiking or in group therapy and their nights in a tent alone with their boots confiscated so they couldn’t run away.

After the tortures of the camp, she is sent to a school in Virginia to continue the “work” done by the camp.

I’m not even fully sure how to review this book, as it is about someone’s life, but to say this book is shocking is an understatement. How anyone could think that programs like this are helpful is unfathomable. Most of the kids in these programs were not criminals or addicts but unruly kids that parents didn’t know what else to do. I’m not kidding when I say that I had to keep reminding myself that it is not fiction. I’m sure Elizabeth’s story is not all that unique either, as this happened all over the country with many stories still untold.

Go read this book, it is truly eye opening.

This is a revealing portrait of one young person's struggle inside those Tough Love institutions. Are they worth the time and money? It's up to those there to decide.