Friday, December 19, 2014

Escape to California (Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures #12) by Jeff Brown –OPTIONAL

Brown, Jeff Escape to California (Flat Stanley’s Worldwide Adventures #12) 128 pgs, HarperCollins, 2014. $4.99 Content: Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G Violence: G
As Flat Stanley is exploring San Francisco with his friend, a girl in a wheelchair screams for help as she rolls out of control down a steep hill. When Flat Stanley and his dad try to help her, they are kidnapped. It was just a ruse to capture Flat Stanley and the girl wants him to help her pull off a stunt. After hearing her out, he decides to help. Will the pair be able to escape the famous prison of Alcatraz and prove that people in wheelchairs can accomplish anything?
I have almost every book in this series in my library and its just not popular with students, I haven’t had one checked out this year at all. I thought the story was well written and action packed. I like that the heroine was wheel chair bound, you don’t see that very often. She was determined and creative which are great traits but I don’t really thing her plan worked out that well. She has some thing going for her that almost no student could relate to because she was rich, well connected, and had a talented engineer for a father. In the end her “accomplishment” wouldn’t have happened at all without the magic of Flat Stanley. I can’t say that all adds up to a great example for wheelchair bound students. Also I think students will be confused as to how a kidnapping turns out to be an OK thing.
EL(K-3) –OPTIONAL  Reviewer: Stephanie Elementary School Librarian & Author.

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