Escape

Sophie McKenzie’s latest book, Escape, fits a thrilling and informative story into only 96 pages!

Set in a marine conservation centre, the main characters, Bernice, Molly and Rylan are on a school trip and are in an allocated small group together. They are supposed to be answering the inevitable question paper as they tour the site. Unfortunately for Bernice, her friend Molly is hanging on Rylan's every word and ignoring both what the school expects them to achieve during the day and Bernice's desire to see her very favourite marine mammals, the dolphins. In the centre, Bernice has noted an advert for a summer voluntary job working with sea animals so she is unhappy when her 'friends' ignore both her requests to tour the centre and the notices prohibiting people from entering the water. Soon disaster strikes and Molly and Rylan rely on Bernice to rescue them from a dangerous situation.

Escape is one of the latest publications from Barrington Stoke and is presented using their trade mark dyslexia-friendly font and format with liberal use of space and illustrations within a story which, though short, maintains the tradition of a start, middle and an end. It is a well rounded story with, in my opinion, an excellent and well deserved ending.

The cover illustration by Melanie Badosa captures the foreboding of the story as the sharks circle the young people, the darkening tones perfectly reflect the gloom of the deep, and the use of scale adds to the alarm of the situation.

The story, although fictional, is full of facts about the marine animals, particularly sharks, described in this thriller, making the book appeal more broadly to readers who enjoy information books as well as fiction stories related to nature and ecology with a dose of peril for good measure. I would recommend Escape for students in key stage 3 at secondary school, ages 11+. It is a great book to add to a school library catalogue. Highly recommended.

‎ 96 pages/ Review by Ruth Cornish, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+