Escape: One Day We Had to Run

Escape: One Day We Had to Run tells the courageous stories of those who defied the odds and escaped from unfathomable conditions in order to find safe refuge. Their plights span a one hundred and seventy-one-year time period, beginning with the remarkable voyage of Harriet Tubman and those she aided who risked their lives and separation from their families to escape the reigns of slavery. In 2015, Yusra and Sara Martinis’ extraordinary efforts carried them from the war-torn city of Damascus to Turkey, Greece, and on to Germany where Yusra competed in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. These are just two of a plethora of extraordinary exodus’s highlighted by Ming & Wah.

This is a compelling and inspiring book that contains an array of personal accounts of heroic value, many of which aren’t included in elementary school textbooks. These individual stories provide a rich historical lens into the past. They’re marked by acts of determination, bravery, and fortitude and are likely to provoke heartfelt dialogue and questions from young children. The material is ideal for upper-elementary and middle school classrooms, and because each narrative can stand alone, the text can be divided for group projects. This will undoubtedly be an invaluable resource for educators and students alike.