The Wild Ones: Great Escape

by C. Alexander London

Overview

A thrilling new adventure in the Wild Ones series--perfect for fans of Warriors, Spirit Animals, and Redwall!

The wild animals of Ankle Snap Alley have been disappearing, and Kit knows exactly why: The People are animal-napping them and taking them to the zoo! Not only that, but they are at the very same zoo where Kit's mother is being held captive. So Kit decides to round up the Moonlight Brigade and lead the charge to set the Wild Ones free.

But this rescue mission might be his most difficult one yet. The Flealess and some of the zoo animals have teamed up against Kit--and the Rat King brings warnings of coming danger! Will Kit be able to set his friends and family free? 

In the newest installment in the Wild Ones saga, Kit must demonstrate, once and for all, that he has the smarts and the sneakiness to win the day.

Praise for The Wild Ones:

“Raccoon hero Kit and his ragtag community of creatures will sneak their way into your imagination and steal your heart. They may pick your pocket, too, but they’ll take you on an adventure you won’t soon forget. This is a fantasy that kids will adore (and quick-of-paw parents will steal). A wild ride from a wildly imaginative author.”--Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan and the bestselling Animorphs series

"Bold deeds, betrayals, and buffoonery kick off this series with gusto."--Kirkus Reviews

"The sharp, lively descriptions ('like dynamite in a silk purse') shine while the exhilarating finale illustrates that home is wherever your 'howl to snap' friends live."--Publishers Weekly 

"Readers will root for Kit as he tangles with scoundrels, liars, and even a hungry crocodile....A promising new series for fans of animal adventure."--School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698174504
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/15/2017
Series:	The Wild Ones , #3
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

C. Alexander London (www.calexanderlondon.com) is the author of Proxy and Guardian, and the middle grade series The Accidental Adventures, Dog Tags, and Tides of War. A former journalist and children's librarian, Alex is now a full time writer in Philadelphia. You can follow him on Twitter at @ca_london.

Editorial Reviews

2017-04-17
The Moonlight Brigade sallies out from Ankle Snap Alley to free the local zoo's captive creatures.Prompted by the trapping of his mother and several alley residents to (it turns out) stock a new exhibit titled "The Urban Wild," raccoon Kit intrepidly leads his motley crew of feral vigilantes on a nighttime rescue mission that, once he smells the miasma of fear and hears the birds' "songs of sadness," quickly becomes an effort to open all the cages and pens. But not every creature longs to escape the zoo's comforts, and the quiet expedition quickly becomes a frantic life-and-death struggle. Though London's characters do actively debate the conflicting allures of freedom and safety, he portrays the zoo as a nightmarish prison, where the habitats are painted fakes and a peaceable polar bear who elects to stay out of concern for his wild relatives is nonetheless shot at the climax by a panicked person. Ultimately the alley's "pals of the paw" all escape, though the fates of the riddle-loving baboons, rapping mongooses, and other "animals who'd been trapped and put in a zoo" (as opposed to "zoo animals") remain unclear. While encouraging readers to understand that "no one want[s] to be labeled by just one part of their life" is a worthy aim, embedding the conversation in the zoo-escape plot is perhaps not the most efficient way to go about it. Agenda-driven from "howl to snap"—but with action aplenty to go with considerations of complex issues. (Animal fantasy. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews