Escape Es-cape (verb) : to avoid a threatening evil

The title page not only explains that escape is a verb that means "to avoid a threatening evil" but also sets the theme for what is to come. Using 12 action verbs, from cling and dart to swim and tunnel, the authors introduce individuals and refugee groups that were forced to leave their homelands and seek safety in other parts of the world. Double-page spreads feature a verb and its definition in larger text, an explanatory paragraph, and symbolic digital art with a collage effect that spans both pages. Although not in chronological order, the entries cover a range of races, historical times, and reasons for escaping. Scenes include enslaved African Americans stowing away to freedom in the North, Hans and Margret Rey (and the manuscript for the first Curious George) pedaling out of Nazi-occupied Paris, and Ioana Teitiota fleeing the rising waters of his Pacific Island due to climate change. Adults, however, may need to interject context. A map charts the dates and locations of each escape. A compelling look at refugee experiences.

This book gracefully brings to life stories of escape from many places across the globe. Chan Hak-chi and Li Kit-hing, a couple, tie themselves to each other with a rope and swim for six hours across a shark-ridden bay to reach Hong Kong and escape famine and systemic state persecution in mainland China. Joachim Neumann and his friends dig a tunnel under the Berlin Wall in the 1960s and facilitate the escape of 57 people to West Germany, including Joachim's girlfriend. Harriet Tubman, once enslaved herself, risks torture and death to help an estimated 70 others escape slavery. Other stories recount escapes related to climate change in Kiribati, violence and poverty in Mexico, war in Syria, and more. Each spread features one case with real-life, named heroes either from the recent past or who are craftily connected to our present time. For example, the son of Russom Keflezighi, who walked the equivalent of 10 marathons away from danger in his Eritrean homeland, won both the New York and Boston marathons in the U.S. Many featured refugees and immigrants settle in the U.S. as their final destination, making the book particularly accessible to American audiences. Adorned with mostly abstract illustrations of people walking, swimming, biking, and even flying while fleeing danger, the book poignantly ends with two short articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on rights and freedoms related to movement. An arresting collection of deep, accessible stories of people on the move. (Informational picture book. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.