Great Escapes: Nazi Prison Camp Escape

by Michael Burgan, Josh Horowitz (Read by)

Overview

Are you ready for some of the most exciting, death-defying escape stories ever told? Perfect for fans of the I Survived series, the first installment in a brand-new, edge-of-your-seat series based on real events!

In spring 1942, Royal Air Force pilot Bill Ash’s plane was shot down by Germans, who captured and eventually brought him to Stalag Luft III, a notorious camp for prisoners of war. The Germans boasted that the camp—which was isolated, heavily guarded, and surrounded by wire fences—was escape proof.

But Ash was ready to prove them wrong. He, along with other POWs, would dig tunnels, hide in shower drains, or jump on trucks—all in the name of freedom. Because resisting the Germans was their mission, and escaping was their duty.

From reluctant reader to total bookworm, each book in this page-turning series—featuring fascinating bonus content and captivating illustrations—will leave you excited for the next adventure! 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781094119816
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/28/2020
Series:	Great Escapes Series , #1
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Michael Burgan has written more than 250 books for children and young adults. His specialty is history, with an emphasis on biography. A graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in history, Burgan is also a produced playwright and the editor of The Biographer’s Craft, the newsletter for Biographers International Organization. He first started writing for children as an editor at Weekly Reader before beginning his freelance career in 1994. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

James Bernardin is a versatile and prolific illustrator of many acclaimed books for children. He has illustrated Laura Numeroff's Would I Trade My Parents?, Eve Bunting's Too Many Monsters, and Candy Chand's The Twelve Prayers of Christmas. He has also created artwork for numerous book covers, including Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey series.

James lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington State with his wife, Lisa, and two sons, Wyeth and Bryson.

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2020

Gr 3–6—Readers of this new historical fiction series meet Mr. Bill Ash, a U.S. citizen who joined the Canadian Royal Air Force in 1940. His indomitable spirit permeates the story as the author realistically depicts Ash's multiple escape attempts and the consequences of his failures. Informative sidebars about topics as varied as the Great Depression and prisoner-of-war camps in the United States complement the text by providing additional context. At least one sidebar feels out of place, however, because it details events that have not yet occurred. Readers learn through an author's note that the story is based on a real person and events, with fictionalized dialogue. Black-and-white illustrations serve the action of the text well. Since this is Ash's story, his character has the most depth, and the author portrays him positively throughout the narrative. The novel's strengths are the action-driven plot and the believable setting. A useful bibliography lists both adult and juvenile nonfiction titles. VERDICT A straightforward account that highlights a lesser-known World War II service member. Purchase where there is high demand for WWII literature.—Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY

School Library Journal

2019-12-22
The tale of a real-life pilot's many attempts to escape from German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II.

Bill Ash, a poor, white Texas man, is so eager to fight Nazis that he can't wait for America. Instead, more than a year before the United States joins the war, Bill goes to Canada and enlists in the Royal Air Force. He loves being a Spitfire pilot, but he's soon shot down in France and, after some time in hiding, is sent to Stalag Luft III, a POW camp. Protected by the Geneva Conventions, the POWs are treated much better than Nazi prisoners in concentration camps or death camps (explained in one of several historical sidebars). That doesn't mean Bill is content to stay safely imprisoned, however. Desperate to get back to the fighting, he unsuccessfully attempts to escape from imprisonment time and time again even as the Nazis punish him with time in "the cooler." Some of his attempts are merely opportunistic, such as dashing from a work detail for freedom. Others are elaborate, such as a pleasantly gross tale of digging a tunnel underneath the latrines, complete with ingenious contraptions jury-rigged from Red Cross relief parcels. With the POWs' (historically accurate) insulation from the war's atrocities, this becomes a mostly low-stakes, exciting tale of wartime derring-do. Invented dialogue tips this story over into fiction.

A soldier's stubborn persistence in a sanitized but still interesting adventure. (author's note, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews