Escape the Mask: The Grassland Trilogy: Book One - Hardcover

David Ward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810994771 ISBN 13: 9780810994775

Publisher: Amulet Books, 2008

Synopsis

The first in a new adventure trilogy full of danger, bravery, and unexpected friendships

Welcome to Grassland, where the only hope of freedom is to go beyond the reach of sinister, silent masters, and the only family you know are your fellow captives. Coriko has never known a world beyond his cell and the fields where he toils all day. He does what he’s told and tries not to anger the Spears, the cruel, masked jailers who guard him and the other child slaves. If he gathers baskets of shards and keeps quiet and orderly, then he can spend time with his cellmate and best friend, Pippa.

But without warning, the children’s orderly lives begin to change—slowly at first, with the arrival of a pair of siblings who speak Coriko and Pippa’s language. Soon after, violent events shake up the quiet world of Grassland, and Coriko must find the strength to grasp his freedom. Full of heartstopping action, Escape the Mask introduces Coriko, Pippa, and their friends—and begins the journey of The Grassland Trilogy.

F&P level: X

F&P genre: F

About this title

About the Author

David Ward is a former elementary school teacher who was born in Montreal, Quebec. He is currently a writer and university instructor in children’s literature. David lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and three children.

Reviews

Grade 8 Up—This fantasy depicts a society of child slaves working the fields collecting shards. Penned up like animals at night by their harsh masters, the "Spears," these youngsters have only distant memories of life before they were kidnapped from their villages. They are set free in the confusion of the war between the Spears and the "soldiers of the Outside" over the shards. They escape into a world only few of them remember or know how to exist in. Hiding from both the Spears and the Outsiders, they travel as far away as they can from their prison and see the horrors of war in the process. When the children reach the villages outside Grassland, they realize that the Spears may not be so different from them after all, despite their cruelty. This adds a surprising plot twist. The characters are slowly developed, and in the end readers are left with a better idea of what makes them behave as they do. The mood is sustained well throughout as a general sense of unease builds from the first chapter on. Readers know that something horrible is going to happen. This is an interesting book that could be a hit with slower readers, and a definite first purchase for most collections.—Jennifer-Lynn Draper, Children's Literature Consultant, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
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In the opening volume of the Grassland Trilogy, several children escape slavery when their masked keepers, known only as Spears, are slaughtered by an army of Outsiders. Stolen by the Spears as very young children, Coriko and his cherished mate, Pippa, remember almost nothing of their previous lives, or of the world beyond their grassy plain. Shortly after the arrival of Tia, a new slave who is older than the age at which children are usually taken away to a mysterious fate, the Spears are attacked. Eluding warriors on both sides, the captives flee through tunnels and into a forest, then break into separate bands. Time and place are unidentifiable in this quickly paced story, which focuses less on natural or cultural detail than on the interplay between strong, aggressive Coriko and the smarter, more compassionate Pippa. Whether the authors goes forward to model his trilogy on Lord of the Flies or takes it in another direction in coming episodes, readers will be drawn in by Coriko’s appealing simplicity and the challenges of staying alive and free. Grades 5-8. --John Peters

Edition details

• Publisher: Amulet Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810994771
• ISBN 13: 9780810994775
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224