Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Review~ The First Escape


List Price:19.99

ISBN:978-1-4143-1947-6

Trim Size:6 x 9

Binding:Hardcover

Release:September 2008

From the best-selling author of Shadowmancer comes an enthralling new series of illustra-novellas. The First Escape is the first book in the Dopple Ganger Chronicles, a six-book series following three children—Sadie and Saskia Dopple and Erik Morrissey Ganger. Sadie and Saskia are mischievous identical twins living at an orphanage, where Erik is their only friend. They are separated when Saskia is adopted by Muzz Elliott, a wealthy woman searching for her long-lost family treasure. While Saskia stumbles into the center of a crime only she can stop, Sadie and Erik embark on a quest to find her. This book is in an exciting new format called an “illustra-novella,” in which the story is told alternately in graphic novel format and plain text with occasional illustrations.

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My Review~ My oldest son likes to read graphic novels so I thought this book would begreat for him. This book is a "novella". Its a mix between a novel and a graphic novel. This fast-paced, high-energy, intense story will keep readers turning pages faster than they ever have before. Twin sisters Sadie and Saskia team up with fellow orphan Erik to escape the drudgery of the orphanage. Along the way they discover dark secrets and a conspiracy that could separate the twins forever. The target audience is grades 4 - 7 and I would not encourage it for younger readers without a parent reading it first. There is subject matter that is more manageable for older readers but may be a bit scary for younger ones. The intensity in the plot is relieved by humour that appeals directly to this age range (there is a stuffed donkey bottom involved - need I say more?) While at times I found the jump from novel to comic a bit hard to follow, my reluctant reader made the leap seamlessly and caught the visual story details that I often missed. The First Escape introduces spiritual themes and the author has left room to expand these themes in the coming books.

Thanks to Tyndale for a chance to get my child to review a book that he actually read!

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