  | AbrakaPOW Author: Campbell, Isaiah | |
| Price: $21.88 | ||
Summary:
A New York City girl moves with her family to a Texas POW camp her father runs during WWII, when, during a magic show she performs, Nazi prisoners escape; she's the only one who can find and recapture them.
| Illustrator: | Perillo, Dave |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (09/01/16)
Booklist (11/01/16)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/11/16)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 11/01/2016 Putting on a magic show for a camp full of German prisoners turns out to be considerably trickier than 11-year-old Maxine expects in this WWII-era tale. Transplanted from Brooklyn after her father assumes command of Camp Barkeley, Max—or “The Amazing Max”—faces the double challenge of attending a new school and living amidst hundreds of GIs and POWs. When the show she puts together with help from Felix, a mild-mannered prisoner, turns out to mask an elaborate jailbreak, it becomes evident that she’s not the only one with a talent for misdirection. As in his Johnny Cannon tales, Campbell requires extreme contrivances to make the plot work, but the hair-raising result is so much fun that it’s hard to mind. Though the author tucks in references to same-sex attractions among characters that are too oblique to be more than check-offs, he does give several cast members hidden depths. Moreover, he inserts directions for several magic tricks and brings the story, loosely based on true events, to a nonviolent, upbeat resolution. - Copyright 2016 Booklist.
