William S. and the Great Escape

Zilpha Keatley Snyder is well known for her realistic and well-developed characters, and William S. and the Great Escape is no exception. William, a 12 year old from an abusive home, has long planned to run away when he is old enough and has enough money. When his younger sister Jancy convinces him to take her and their two youngest siblings, Trixie and Buddy, along with them, plans change. Then end up running away now, and then aren't able to get very far because they are so hampered by the needs of the youngest two. A lonely older girl helps them, but for her own purposes - this is really the heart of the book so I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that these characters are written realistically, with motivations that actually sound like stuff kids that age would be motivated by. As a homeschooling mom, one thing that I especially noted in the book was William's love of Shakespeare. He developed this passion after playing Ariel in a school production of The Tempest. Various aspects of The Tempest are discussed at several places in the book, making this an excellent tie-in for a young person's first exposure to Shakespeare. Highly recommended.

Now in her 80s, Zilpha Keatley Snyder is still writing delightful books for middle-graders. In this one, set in 1938, William S. Baggett, 12, and his younger siblings, Jancy, Trixie and Buddy, are trapped in a truly dreadful family of crude, cruel, brutish lowlifes. After two of their older half brothers do a horrible thing to Jancy's pet guinea pig, the four children set out during the night for their aunt Fiona's home. Before they even have a chance to get on the bus, they are delayed by a helpful, lonely rich girl, Clarice, who hides them in her basement. More complications ensue once they finally get on the bus, but, never fear, all will work out happily in the end. The protagonist, William S., is an intelligent and likable boy. He has added the middle initial to his name in tribute to Shakespeare. William is an aspiring actor, who has recently played Ariel in a school production of "The Tempest." When he and his brother and sisters set out on their journey, he insists on taking along his beloved copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare in his knapsack. While the children are hiding out in Clarice's house, he entertains them and keeps them quiet by acting out scenes from the play. This book does contain some violence, for example, the killing of the guinea pig at the beginning, then some brutal physical violence toward the children near the end, but the descriptions of it are not unduly graphic, and it does help to underscore the disgusting, sadistic nature of this repulsive family. All in all, this is a most satisfying tale of adventure that can be enjoyed by both kids and adults.

William S. Baggett is just about ready to ditch his last name --- and the family that goes with it. The Baggetts are a bunch of lazy, quarreling lowlifes, the kind of big half-brothers and sisters that will beat up a little kid just for the heck of it. For William, though, his dreams of running away from his horrible family have been just that --- dreams, the kind of thing you wish for and maybe even save for, but that remains firmly in the "someday" category. That is, until William's younger sister Jancy, fed up with her older siblings' bullying and bad behavior (they flush her guinea pig down the toilet for a joke) and with the overall chaos in their dilapidated farmhouse, begs William to leave soon --- and to take Jancy and their younger siblings, Trixie and Buddy, with him. The plan? To find their Aunt Fiona, their late mother's sister who lives in northern California. William and Jancy's plans are full of potential pitfalls. Just getting out of their small California town without getting caught provides plenty of challenges. They find an unlikely ally in the person of Clarice, a rich family's daughter who recognizes William from his role as the sprite Ariel in a high school production of The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Clarice's admiration of William provides plenty of opportunities for good-natured teasing by Jancy, but it also might be their ticket out of town. None of the Baggetts knew about William's star turn; he doesn't even want to imagine "what might have happened if any of the older Baggetts had shown up to watch a member of their family come onstage dressed in tights and a filmy tunic and sing things like `Full fathom five thy father lies, Of his bones are coral made,' while he bounded around the stage waving a wand that made all sorts of magical things seem to be happening." But Clarice was impressed with William's performance, and even though at times she proves as much of a hindrance as a help to William and his younger siblings' escape plans, she just might be the key to helping them find a real home. Along the way, William gets to (or, sometimes, has to) act out scenes from Shakespeare. Although the lines from Shakespeare and the references to his plays are printed in a distractedly old-fashioned typeface, the integration of William's genuine love of Shakespeare into the plot might help the Bard seem less intimidating and more relevant to kids' own lives. Most entertaining, however, is just watching these enterprising siblings find a way out of a serious dilemma, navigating their Depression-era obstacles with pluck and creativity, and traveling to an ending where, in true Shakespearean style, "all's well that ends well." WILLIAM S. AND THE GREAT ESCAPE is an engaging novel of journeys and homecomings, one that might prompt readers not to run away but to find a way to express their true selves, wherever they are. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Since The Journey of Natty GannThe Journey of Natty Gann, Oliver Twist, and that famous orphan Harry Potter, children searching for their roots and a home have been a staple of children's fiction. William Baggett and his family--Janie, Trixie, and Buddy--is a lively addition. The Shakespeare-loving William makes a plan to escape the Baggetts, known to all in William's town as, well, white trash would be too classy a description. The Baggetts are and abusive, dysfunctional family into which William' mother, Laura, married. Now Laura is gone and William must protect his family. In the turbulent atmosphere of the Great Depression, the Baggett children try to make their way to their aunt Fiona's home. A lonely rich girl, Clarice, daughter of two workaholic attorneys, adopts the children, but William is determined to reach Aunt Fiona despite Clarice's designs. Suitably Shakespearean plot devices and twists pepper this tale--disguises, coincidences, misplaced letters, and just perhaps some guardian spirits/kings and queens who could save the Baggetts from a horrible life with the family that uses them as both welfare checks and punchin g bags. The characters are delightful and William's impromptu staging of The Tempest (Norton Critical Editions) The Tempest is both hilarious and touching. And perhaps Puck will restore amends...

The author has done a wonderful job of creating a sense of compassion and fear for the characters of this book. After a long struggle as the younger children of the broken, penniless, abusive, and careless Baggett family look for a way out. Just 100 miles away there is someone who loves them, someone who provides hope. This is their struggle and journey to find a way to keep the hope and save themselves from a life of misery and terror. This is nn excellent read that makes its point, but without the gruesome descriptions of abuse and squalor. The hero of the story dives into The Tempest and other Shakespearean works to describe his emotional state, and the underlying theme of the story. This book provides an excellent resource for teachers to introduce young children to the works of Shakespeare.