An energetic read, rich in details and suited for readers drawn to unusual tales of resilience and ingenuity.
A brisk, globe-trotting collection recounting over 150 years of daring real-life escapes.
British historian Long delivers high-stakes adventure steeped in historical insight. From downed pilots to enslaved people in 19th-century America and humanitarian workers fleeing conflict zones—as well as some whose “lives were hardly heroic” yet showed “extraordinary cunning and imagination”—the subjects make their bids for freedom. Some stories, like that of Indian aviators lost in Pakistan following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 or a Japanese man who repeatedly escaped after being imprisoned for robbery and murder in the 1930s, read like fast-paced thrillers. Others highlight inventive wartime tools—maps hidden in playing cards, compasses concealed in false teeth—designed to help prisoners of war escape. Of the 32 chapters, about a third center on women and/or people of color. Many of the subjects—Harriet Tubman and Winston Churchill excepted—may be new to readers. Long’s prose is lively, and the swift pacing within each five-to-six-page vignette offers accessible entry into history. Some of his subjects endured horrific treatment, such as Yazidi human trafficking survivor, activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Nadia Murad, although Long’s middle grade–friendly language hints at atrocities without being excessively graphic. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t contain sources. Coe’s stylized, full-page color portraits open each chapter, breaking up the text and visually enhancing the book’s momentum.
An energetic read, rich in details and suited for readers drawn to unusual tales of resilience and ingenuity. (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780571382941
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
