Robyn's family vacation in Vienna sure gets off on the wrong foot. All of her family's luggage is stolen from their car! Everything is gone    --- her new clothes, her little brother Joey's toys and, worst of all, the diary Aunt Beth gave her.

Robyn's Aunt Beth died in a car accident five months before the summer vacation. Now, not only is Aunt Beth gone, but the diary she once admired and gave to Robyn is gone too. The last piece of Aunt Beth that Robyn could hold onto is lost forever.  

Robyn's mother was also in the accident and although she was hurt and traumatized, she survived. But to Robyn, her mother seems more like a ghost than the mother she once had. Her mother has become so distant that Robyn actually misses being yelled at, and so does Joey. Every day her brother acts younger and more childish, desperate to get some attention. To top it all off, their father    --- who was never really the center of the family    --- is unbearably cheerful, struggling to hold the family together.  

If you've lost someone you love, reading this story may help you feel less alone. By reading all about Robyn's inner most thoughts, it feels like you become the person who found Robyn's diary. And Robyn would have liked that. But don't be scared off by what seems like a totally depressing book. STOLEN WORDS has a very hopeful ending. What a great book!

   --- Reviewed by Kate Torpie