Great Escapes

November 15, 2017
Grades 6-9 In an engaging tone reminiscent of adventure stories, installments in the Mystery and Mayhem series aim to lure readers in with present-tense, plot-driven accounts of history. Great Escapes highlights five notable escapes, including Ellen and William Craft's clever flight from enslavement; Douglas Mawson's harrowing journey through Antarctica; and the mysterious disappearance of three prisoners from Alcatraz. Though certainly cinematic in style, the focus on a thrilling narrative can occasionally lead to lurid sensationalism, and especially in accounts of enslaved people (referred to in the text as slaves), this is a drawback. Other accounts, however, are more successful in this regardMawson's Antarctic journey, which gets quite grisly, is a perfect match for the style. Though the context in each account is slim and the lack of source notes makes it difficult to sift facts from supposition, the fast-paced narrative might pique the interest of reluctant readers enough to spur them on to more comprehensive resources.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)