The Not-So Great Escape – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Grief, understanding, friendship, alpaca, counselling.
Children’s book title: The Not-So Great Escape.
Children’s author: Emma Green.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Usborne.
ISBN: 9781836045663.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12.
First published: Paperback January 2026.
Hashtags: #WoollyHeist #FurryFelon #Alpacalypse
This children’s book is ideal for: discussing the subject of loss, imagination, and the assistance some of us require when facing the consequences of momentous events such as loss, divorce, or estrangement.
Trigger warning: Death of a parent, the mum in this instance, on the first page, bullying on the second, and, in the final chapter, the death of a sibling, Hedley’s sister, who appears throughout but is not revealed as an apparition or ghostly being until the very end.
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Our review:
Hedley Ambrose is twelve and suffered unbelievable tragedy when his mum was killed by a car. His dad took to his bed straight after the accident, and so Hedley and his sister, Lilly, spend every weekend at the Bridlebank Therapy Activities Centre where he rooms with Aiden, a bully who mistreats him continually. The centre’s therapist thinks both boys need to get out more and arranges work experience at a local petting farm. Unfortunately, not long after their first visit, the three children have to run because somehow Aiden managed to ‘borrow’ an alpaca called Duke!
Determined to take the rather chunky animal to a rescue centre, they leave the activity centre in the middle of the night, and soon Hedley learns more about alpacas than he ever wanted to know! He witnesses the alpaca trash a general store, suffer horrendous problems after eating a pack of indigestion tablets, and invade the pitch at a charity football match, all before disappearing into a cave to give birth, turning Duke into Duchess!
Finally, after they’ve been arrested, escaped, identified a jewel thief, and found a mountain for the three alpacas to live on, Hedley, who knows what happened to his mum but has a problem accepting it, realises things have to change. On the very familiar hill they’ve climbed to provide Duchess and her babies with a new home, Hedley knows what he’ll find, and that however hard it is he has to accept everything if he’s to move forward.
Our verdict:
This is almost two books in one. Those readers who have experienced devastating loss will naturally identify with Hedley’s story, while those who haven’t may enjoy the quite slapstick story of how they take an alpaca cross-country with disastrous results.
The grief Hedley experiences after his mum’s death is dealt with in a way middle school children will understand. Social media goes viral about the missing alpaca as well as the adventures Hedley and Aiden experience, but the boys aren’t identified and their backgrounds aren’t mentioned, which I was glad about.
Lilly travels with Hedley and Aiden and is a listening, if annoying, ear for her big brother. With hindsight, there are clues as to the heartbreaking realisation of what happened to her, but this isn’t confronted until Hedley stands looking at her memorial stone, as she had died along with her mum. This alone could be a trigger because the hints are subtle and could very well be missed.
Overall, this is a book to read with compassion and awareness of what your readers have already experienced in their lives, and the younger children in this age range may need extra support when reading this. The bullying, thieving, and fantasies Aiden indulges in, and the desperate need he has to persuade everyone his dad is absolutely amazing, are well written, as is how his secret is laid bare in the cruellest way. The desperate need Hedley has to stay away from any danger and the camaraderie neither boy realises they have shared until afterwards are both dealt with sympathetically and with the care needed for readers to empathise with each boy in a different way. Both deaths, however, are brutally revealed, as death often is, but very rarely does the author let it stand alone, and the purposely ridiculous journey is an excellent tension reliever. The two boys’ gradual friendship forms with no fanfare but strengthens continually throughout the story. There is also a chink of light at the end which was definitely needed and provides the readers with hope for them both.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- The loss Hedley suffers at the start of the book is momentous. How do you think the theft of Duke and the resulting journey made the loss easier to read about?
- In a cross-curricular activity with art, design a ‘have you seen this alpaca’ poster to be distributed to help the public find Duke.
- Lilly is present throughout the story. When her death is revealed at the end, were you surprised? With hindsight, what clues were there, if any, to help the reader realise what had happened before the final chapter?
- If you had the chance to write an epilogue for this story, what do you think would happen next for Hedley, Aiden, and their dads?
- There are lots of hashtags mentioned in this book. Can you think of any others which could have been used?
Many thanks to Usborne for the review copy.
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