The Not-so-Great Escape

Hedley is not coping after the death of his mother in a car crash, and neither is his dad, who can’t get out of bed, so at weekends he stays at a Therapy Centre, where he is bullied by his roommate, Aiden. His support worker arranges for them both to go and work at Farmer Bert’s Petting Farm, which bothers Hedley, an expert on risk, but they have no choice. When Aiden decides to steal an alpaca, though, he gets caught on CCTV wearing Hedley’s very distinctive hat, and Hedley feels that he has no choice but to go on the run with Aiden, little sister Lilly tagging along too. The alpaca, named Duke, is extremely smelly, and most definitely has a mind of its own, and they have some hilarious adventures, including unwittingly aiding a burglar, on their way to what Aiden thinks is a rescue place for animals. Their exploits become hot news on social media and in the local press, (#AlpacaBandit, etc.) which makes it harder to stay hidden, but these enemies slowly develop a better relationship. It emerges that Aiden has consistently lied about what his father does for a living, and it becomes clear that he is not really part of his father’s life, but he still makes fun of Hedley’s dad problem. Although this a spoiler, your reviewer does need to mention that Lilly, a source of constant worry and annoyance in turns (she tells the awful jokes beloved of 6-year-olds), had died in the same car crash as her mum, and Hedley finally comes to acknowledge this fact. There are happy endings all round, though it’s been a crazy ride!

Emma Green owns three alpacas, so she knows about their behaviour, their stubbornness and spitting, and their smell, so we have some reality in the mayhem, and she writes very well. The publishers claim that this is for middle-grade readers, especially boys, but anyone can, and should, enjoy reading it.