TOW #4 - Kidnapped by Terrorists: One Boy's Story of Escape by Susan Svrluga

Gerfa's and Kevin's passports. The mother and son were held as captives by a group of Filipino terrorist group called Abu Sayyaf for months. They were doomed to die unless a ransom money of $10 million has been paid. Source: www.rd.com

            Susan Svrluga's writing, "Kidnapped by Terrorists One Boy's Story of Escape" is an account of a boy escaping from his captors after five months of hostage. The story takes place in the Philippines in 2011, where 14-year-old Kevin Lunsmann and his mother Gerfa were visiting family on Tictabon Island. The two were soon kidnapped by a group of terrorists before they could go back to Lynchburg, Virginia and were taken to a forested island where they were to be killed unless Kevin's father, a maintenance man, paid the ransom of $10 million, almost an impossible task. For a long period of time, the mother and son were put into a tiny makeshift cage, treated brutally, and fed with unusual foods that made them sick. Gerfa was freed after two and a half months when a part of the ransom had been paid off, but Kevin was still in captivity. After five months being a hostage, Kevin could not take it any longer and soon escaped when the only guard in the room went upstairs for a while. Eventually, Kevin ran into a farmer who soon called the police after hearing his story. Kevin was rescued by a helicopter, and he soon returned home just in time to celebrate Christmas with his family. The casual readers of the Reader's Digest would most likely feel sympathy and relief towards the Lunsmann family, just the effect that the author of the writing would want. Svrlug,a attempts to bring out the reality of one boy's dangerous adventure  by adding vivid descriptions to the story. When she describe the time when Kevin found a pair of boots in a empty hut, she informs the readers that "[Kevin] pulled them onto his blackened, torn feet and took off again" (Svrluga). This short description shows how much the boy was suffering while running away from the terrorist, which ultimately supports the author's purpose of creating a sense of sympathy in the audience. I believe that Svrluga's fast-paced story successfully helped me to feel concerned and relived throughout the story.