Fantastic Fugitives: Criminals, Cutthroats, and Rebels Who Changed History (While on the Run!)

November 1, 2015
A dozen vest-pocket profiles of notorious fugitives--good, bad, and, in the case of Typhoid Mary, ugly. "If you're going to change the world, you better be good at running and hiding," writes DuMont at the start of this uneven collection of bold outlaws. Most of the characters are well-known figures--Cleopatra, Harriet Tubman, John Dillinger, Nelson Mandela--but there are also a handful of lesser-known but serious rabble-rousers: Koxinga (who hoped to restore the Ming dynasty from the Manchus), suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst, and Virginia Hall, who spied for the Allies during World War II. DuMont neatly notes the historical significance of these outlaws, and there is an entertaining collection of artwork to complement the text. But the title of the book gives away its weakness: DuMont overdoes it trying to be chums with her audience. "Spartacus and his new BFF, Crixus," is typical, as is mention of Cleopatra's "bling" or "Legend has it that [Martin] Luther was on the toilet when he had his 'aha' moment....Instead of stinking up the place for the next thirty minutes, he got to thinking." It is not just that this approach is pandering, but it removes the subjects from the times in which they lived, thus failing to conjure distinct images about the characters in their particular surrounds. A fair wealth of good information too often obscured by what feels like a desperate need to be liked. (Collective biography. 9-12)

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February 1, 2016

Gr 4-7-DuMont's follow-up to Famous Phonies: Legends, Fakes, and Frauds Who Changed History (Sky Pony, 2014) covers 12 radical historical personalities from ancient times through the present. Employing an informal tone, DuMont presents figures such as Nelson Mandela and Cleopatra, with results that are entertaining but less than credible, despite the solid list of sources. Because of her fictionalizing and informal tone, the prose is sometimes off-putting "[Martin Luther] returned to Germany in more personal turmoil than when he farted a lot," which makes the work unsuitable for report use. The layout is appealing, with colorful images, glossy pages, and pop-out highlighted definitions and facts. VERDICT An additional purchase for students seeking nonfiction pleasure reading.-Sarah Wilsman, Bainbridge Library, Chagrin Falls, OH

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