Three families taking a day-trip together while on vacation, find themselves caught in the middle of guerilla actions. Martin's family of four is separated because the youngest son, Nick, was traveling in a vehicle with an elderly couple. The guerillas dismiss them as hostages, but quickly take the two remaining carloads. Six hostages - two sets of parents and two teenagers, Martin and Louise - are taken into the jungle. As they travel and camp together, the adults find their own methods for dealing with their captivity, but the teens soon become familiar with one of the guerillas - Eduardo. In fact, Louise falls in love with him. Through Eduardo, they learn about their captors and the conditions that have brought them all together. When it ends, Martin's father becomes a celebrity on talk shows because he has produced a book from the diary he kept and the drawings made by his wife. Martin, however, sees the story differently and cannot bring himself to reconcile with his parents. Readers may momentarily experience some confusion as the story switches from the diary format to prose, but will soon realize that they are now listening to Martin's views of the events. And it is through Martin's voice that the reader truly begins to become connected to the story and its characters. This title may be for thoughtful readers who will keep reading in order to find the beauty at the end. ( )