Yohalem, Eve. Escape Under the Forever Sky. Chronicle, 2009. ISBN 9780811866538. $16.99. 220 p.
Reviewer: Tessa McMillan
Reading Level: Intermediate, Young adult
Rating: Outstanding
Genre: Adventure stories; Contemporary realistic fiction;
Subject: Survival--Juvenile fiction; Kidnapping--Juvenile fiction; Ethiopia--Juvenile fiction; Books--Reviews;
Lucy feels trapped by her over-protective mother, but can you blame her? Her mother is the American ambassador to Ethiopia, and her father is living away from home for work. Lucy wants to explore Ethiopia, but her mother's political connections keep her trapped at home under constant surveillance. Any chance Lucy has to get away from home, she takes it. On one occasion, Lucy is not so lucky while sneaking out. She gets kidnapped by the henchmen of a world-renowned drug dealer. They take her to a remote shack in southern Ethiopia, prepared to let her live or to kill her. But Lucy doesn't want to end up dead. She escapes into the wild, gashes her foot, meets monkeys, eats figs, sleeps in trees, and gets protected by wild lions. Finally, she meets up with two girls from a local tribe. The henchmen follow Lucy, but the tribe protects her and helps her to escape. In the end, she returns home to her parents and to more freedoms to be abroad. Yohalem did a wonderful job of making Lucy's character realistic and believable in this debut novel. Yohalem also paints a beautiful picture of the wild-life and environment of Ethiopia. She states in her Author's Note that this book was based on a true story of a kidnapped girl who was protected from her enemies by a pack of wild lions. This is a great book for middle or high school students who enjoy stories based in Africa.
Volume 29, no. 6 (July/August 2009)
