Eric Mark Braun

I originally had a bunch of the "You Choose" books from Capstone in nonfiction, but earlier this year I moved most of them over to fiction under the call number "YOU" and ordered more. One of the sets I ordered was a selection of prehistoric times and I showed this one to my staff, whose answer was "no." Happily, the kids are a bit more optimistic!

Capstone's You Choose use the familiar choose your own adventure style, with the added bonus of nonfiction elements. Depending on which series you show more select, you can try to survive in a hostile wilderness adventure, during dangerous historical time periods, or in some very creepy haunted places! This series drops the reader back through time in different prehistoric periods, specifically the Cretaceous Period. That means... dinosaurs!

The framing story is that you are sitting in class, a little bored, and your teacher leaves the room. You go to look at the odd mist rising from a prehistoric terrarium... and you find yourself trapped in the Cretaceous Period! You have 33 choices - choose wisely, or you might die from an infection, get eaten by a dinosaur, or come to many other nasty ends. If you, and any friends trapped with you, make the right choices, you might survive and settle down in this strange old world, or you might make it back to your classroom. But be careful! Danger lurks everywhere...

The last chapter explains the Cretaceous Period, shows a timeline, give some discussion questions, an includes links and books for further reading, a brief glossary, bibliography, and index.

Verdict: Of course most of the stories end in death, but it's not graphically described. Despite the cover, there's little gore and the black and white sketches that accompany the story aren't scary. This joins a series that's perfect for I Survived and Choose Your Own Adventure fans, especially those who like nonfiction. They are available in paperback as well as library binding.

ISBN: 9781543574012; Published 2020 by Capstone; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library; Paperback edition purchased for the library show less

This book is about Joe Joe, a magic student who turns his science homework into chocolate because he doesn't like doing it. The chocolate goes through the different states of matter as the teacher makes a lesson out of it. I gave this book 5 stars because it does an excellent job of using key vocabulary to explain the states of matter in a fun, kid-friendly way. This book would work great in a science classroom around 5th grade when they're starting to learn this concept.

In the early morning hours at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a shocking discovery was made; three prisoners had escaped!

How had these three men, Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin managed to escape from a prison that was deemed unbreakable? Did they survive and go on to live new lives or did they die during the escape? This nonfiction narrative explores the historical and current investigation and the results of this historical escape.

Braun takes readers on a moment-by-moment show more reenactment of the prisoners' conspiracy, plans, and elaborate creation of tools, supplies, and escape tunnels. The story of the escape is followed by the police investigation and speculation as to the fate of the men, including ongoing investigation of their whereabouts. The story concludes with the unsolved mystery - did the three men escape? Are they still alive somewhere in the United States or South America? Or did they die in the icy waters of the bay, only a short distance from freedom?

An epilogue addresses the wider results of the escape; the closing of Alcatraz, and fates of the other inmates involved in or peripheral to the escape. Back matter includes a bibliography, additional photographs of both men and the evidence of their escape, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, critical thinking questions, and an index.

While this is an exciting and fast-paced story of ingenious creativity and investigation, something about it just bothered me. In the end, I think it was the presentation of the escape without any of the wider issues surrounding incarceration and crime mentioned, beyond some references to the men's early lives and personalities. I'm not much of a true crime reader, which may be why this didn't appeal as much to me personally, but if I was using this in a classroom I'd want more discussion of the moral and ethical issues, rather than just the nitty-gritty of the escape.

Verdict: This is likely to appeal to readers who like true crime or enjoy docudramas about prisoners (and yes, there are plenty of kids who fall into that category). It is available in paperback and would make a good addition to a narrative nonfiction collection for popular perusal.

ISBN: 9781515745518; Published 2017 by Capstone; Review copy provided by publisher show less

Lauren Tarshis' I Survive series continues to be popular, with new titles and a graphic novel version coming out in 2020. I'm often busy recommending read-alikes and one of the series I turn to most often is Capstone's You Choose titles. You Choose covers history, myth, and general survival in a Choose Your Own Adventure format. Rather than the fantasy stories in the original CYOA, Capstone focuses on nonfiction, basing the stories on true historical events or places and including a final show more chapter explaining the true story, and, in the case of this title, real escape attempts, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and internet links.

Personally, the CYOA format gives me the heebie-jeebies. I can't stand flipping back and forth and end up just reading straight through, which doesn't work very well either. However, most readers really enjoy this format and combining the two things, survival and CYOA, is pretty genius.

This particular title is part of a four-volume set of escapes and includes escaping a deserted island, Paris catacombs, and the Tower of London. I think the other titles might be better than this one. It's exciting and interesting - it offers readers the choice to be smart, strong, or clever, giving sample back stories of prisoners, and then testing different, real-life escape methods. But it's... troubling. One of the discussion questions does ask if it's harder to root for escapees from Alcatraz because they were all "violent criminals." But some of the back stories portray the men sympathetically - and it's hard to see a good reason to suggest readers imagine themselves as hardened and violent criminals anyways. As is traditional, most of the options end with you, as the main character recaptured and sentenced to solitary imprisonment or dead.

Verdict: This particular volume isn't my favorite, but I think in general kids will enjoy the set, especially those who like survival stories and history. I have some reservations about this particular title, and I'm definitely planning to move most of this series into fiction, but overall it's worth adding.

ISBN: 9781543573923; Published August 2019 by Capstone; Review copy provided by publisher, donated to the library show less