Sometimes, an intolerable situation calls for a drastic measure―fleeing for freedom. Whether youre a slave seeking freedom in the North or a convict swimming for your life in a shark-infested canal, the urge to be free drives your every move. In Great Escapes: Real Tales of Harrowing Getaways, readers ages 9 to 12 meet five ingenious fugitives and freedom seekers who all shared one common goal: escape. The human spirit craves freedom, and when liberty is taken away, people go to great lengths to get it back. Great Escapes: Real Tales of Harrowing Getaways tells the histories of five ingenious departures, including the one perpetuated by William and Ellen Craft, who donned disguises and made a 1,000-mile run for freedom. Another man, Douglas Mawson, battled a power greater than any human villain, when in 1913, Mother Nature trapped Mawson in her icy Antarctic jaws. Alone and dangling over a bottomless crevasse by a fraying rope, the only escape tools Mawson had were his strength and determination. History is ripe with examples of people desperate to escape the traps in which they are snared. Get an up-close look at the guts, skill, determination, and luck of remarkable escape artists in Great Escapes: Real Stories of Harrowing Getaways. This is the sixth book in a series called Mystery & Mayhem, which features true tales that whet kids appetites for history by engaging them in genres with proven track records―mystery and adventure. History is made of near misses, unexplained disappearances, unsolved mysteries, and bizarre events that are almost too weird to be true―almost! The Mystery and Mayhem series delves into these tidbits of history to provide kids with a jumping off point into a lifelong habit of appreciating history.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.