The First Escape

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.

Grade 4–7—Part fiction, part graphic novel, and part picture book, The Escape is a tale of Saskia and Sadie Dopple, twin orphans, forcibly separated by an eccentric cast of characters; and ex-burglar Erik Ganger, who aids them in reuniting. Set in Britain in the early 20th century, the story has a gothic feel, if a slightly absurd one, reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins). Saskia is adopted by wealthy writer Muzz Elliott, whose grandfather lost quite a bit of gold at her estate. When criminals seek to dupe Elliott and replace her, both Elliott and Saskia are in mortal peril. Meanwhile, Sadie and Erik escape from the orphanage, only to fall into the clutches of an insane retired magician. The prose flows somewhat awkwardly into paneled storytelling and back out again, and while the style is innovative, the pacing doesn't work consistently in the two formats. Additionally, bits of religious philosophy seem tacked on rather than integral to the story. While fans of Snicket or Roald Dahl may enjoy the absurd tale, and the narrative's mix of prose, panels, and pictures is intriguing, the story itself falls short.—Alana Abbott, James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT
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