The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft is very closely based on the autobiography of Ellen and William Craft. It includes an afterword that describes what Ellen and William did when they were free; it also has a timeline of Ellen's life. 48 pages with color illustrations, for grades 2 through 5.

Awards

2003 Carter G. Woodson Honor award for the most distinguished social science books for young readers that depict ethnicity

2003 NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

2003 Storytelling World Awards Honor Title

2003 Best Children's Book, Children's Book Committee of Bank Street College

Reviews

New readers will appreciate the fast-paced adventure, simple language, large typeface with plenty of space for detailed illustrations, and a relatively obscure story set in a familiar historical time. Though this series is written for new readers, Moore manages to include some difficult and important angles to the adventure. She allows the young reader to see clearly the differences between the way William has to live as he travels as a slave and how Ellen, posing as a white man, lives....Young readers will be inspired by this tale of personal courage in the face of prejudice.

Kirkus Reviews, February 2002

This account of a real event employs a suspenseful text that will keep readers engaged to the very end....A great nonfiction choice for newly independent readers.

School Library Journal, April 2002

Moore presents the Crafts' tale with careful attention to accuracy (all quotations, she notes, are drawn directly from William Craft's own writings) and incorporates considerable tension even within the confines of limited vocabulary.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2002

Written for very young readers by Cathy Moore, The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft is beautifully illustrated by Mary O'Keefe Young....This delightful, though serious, book will inform young readers in a clear and unprejudicial way about slavery in this country and the desperate desire to be free.

The Covington (GA) Times, January 24, 2002

Illustrator:
Mary O'Keefe Young
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