How does Janie's character evolve in The Face on the Milk Carton?

In The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney, the protagonist Janie Johnson changes throughout the story, becoming more adult, more analytical in her thinking, and taking her carefree suburban life less for granted. One day, while having lunch in the school cafeteria with her friends, she sees the face of a small girl on the milk carton, and the caption indicates that the girl was kidnapped many years earlier. Janie recognizes herself and cannot understand how this can be. Her parents are loving people who are upright members of their community. They give back in the form of coaching the local boys’ sports team and spending days doing volunteer work at the local hospital. Janie is tormented with thoughts about her parents. How could people like this have kidnapped a child?

Janie is a typical fifteen-year-old when the book begins. By the end of the story, she has had to deal with these complex questions about her history and about her parents. She goes through many stages as she thinks that her parents are hiding things from her. Ultimately, she realizes that she must take the adult approach and confront her parents with her questions in order to get at the truth. At this point, Janie has become a more mature person who can have a difficult conversation with the people she loves.

While it is typical for most teenagers at some point during their teenage years to question their parents and question conventional thinking, Janie’s dilemma is much more complex. She is not merely questioning why her parents will not allow her to get her learner’s permit so that she can drive: she is questioning whether they could be liars and kidnappers.

She also realizes by the end of the novel how fortunate she is to have been raised in a wonderful community with parents who are progressive and love her as much as they do. She does not take any of it for granted anymore, because she knows that it was a trick of fate that changed her life. Her emotions are deeper by the end of the book, allowing her to have a more mature relationship with her parents as well as her boyfriend.

Describe the character Janie from The Face on the Milk Carton.

Initially, Janie is a happy, carefree young lady. She leads a good home life, with loving parents there to guide and protect her. In common with many people of her age, Janie has a very vivid imagination and a strong sense of curiosity about the world around her. And it's this particular characteristic of hers which leads her to discover the disturbing truth about her background. Those parents with whom she's lived such a happy, fulfilling life—Mr. and Mrs. Johnson—are not really her parents after all. Janie finds out that she was kidnapped at the age of three by the Johnsons's daughter Hannah, who lured Janie away with the promise of ice cream.

As we might expect, this shocking revelation changes everything. All of a sudden, life's become so incredibly complicated for Janie, and with it her personality. No longer the happy-go-lucky teen, Janie finds herself mired in guilt, blaming herself for allowing Hannah to tempt her with ice cream on that fateful day.

Yet what's interesting about Janie is that, even after she discovers the truth about her past, she still retains many of the personal qualities of old. For one thing, she's as kind and as loving as ever. She still loves the Johnsons as much as she ever did, and doesn't want to return to her birth family despite everything that's happened.

But the revelation of her true parentage causes Janie to undergo quite a profound change in character. She no longer takes life in her stride. Her obsession with the kidnapping takes over her whole life, damaging her personal relationships. Janie no longer takes pride in her appearance and stops eating properly due to all the stress and trauma that this whole business has caused.