Escape Under the Forever Sky

by Eve Yohalem

Loosely based on real-life events, this suspenseful story, by a debut novelist, is also funny and touching and will have readers riveted from start to finish. Lucy's mother is the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, so Lucy's life must be one big adventure, right? Wrong. Lucy's worrywart mother keeps her locked up inside the ambassador's residence. All Lucy can do is read about the exotic and exciting world that lies beyond the compound walls and imagine what it would be like to be a part of it. That is, until one day Lucy decides she has had enough and she and a friend sneak off for some fun. But to their horror, Lucy gets kidnapped! With only herself to rely upon, Lucy must use her knowledge of African animals, inventiveness, will, and courage to escape, and in the process embarks on an adventure beyond her wildest imagination.

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Survival, Africa

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2009

About the author

I write books for kids. My newest book, The Truth According to Blue, is about a treasure-hunting girl and her diabetic alert dog. I also wrote Cast Off: The Strange Adventures of Petra De Winter and Bram Broen, Escape Under the Forever Sky, and a series of funny short stories for younger readers, called Grandpa Hates the Bird.

Reviews

[Mckayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

So the moral of the story is that if you are disobedient then you will get kidnapped but that will only lead to you getting back in less then a week with more friends and a life ten times better than before while you get to live adventurously exploring African wildlife which has been your dream since you were six. Sneak out and be disrespectful kids!

[Lexi Z]

I recently finished ESCAPE UNDER THE FOREVER SKY By Eve Yohalem and I have to say that was hands down one of THE best books I have ever read! It made me really think about how lucky am to have all the things that I have. Like food and and clean water (unlike some of the African villagers) and the freedom to go places that I want to go without Marines guarding me(unlike Lucy). It had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I had trouble putting it down be cause it was so intriguing and suspenseful. I don't really have any way of relating myself to Lucy or her situation, but I do remember once getting sent to my room and trying to escape by climbing out my window on to the balcony and then into the house but I was seen and sent back. In a way it's kind of like Lucy's problem because she was escaping from a place that she didn't want to go and I was doing the same. Except that even though she was seen the people who kidnapped her were unable to bring her back to there little camp while I did have to return to my room. And then there's the fact that her situation was much more serious than mine. I do think this book was fast paces because it was one problem or situation after another. But they were still long enough to were the author let herself describe the situation so that it was really easy to put myself in Lucy's shoes. I can definitely say that this book truly deserves 5 stars and though I have said that before this book was above and beyond incredible! So actually ill give it 6 stars (out of 5). It's THAT good. I recommend this book to everyone because it has complexity and simplicity and is all around great.

[Shruti S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently finished reading "Escape under the forever sky" by Eve Yohalem. This story starts out in the boring embassy compound were Lucy the main character lives. She has always wanted to go out of the compound and explore, until she has to do that in real life for her own survival. She has gotten kidnapped!!. This book was very detailed which made me feel like I was there in Ethiopia on the run for my own life. The author realy made the story come alive by describing Lucy's thoughts and feelings and the place or setting with a lot of detail. This book grabbed my attention because of its unusual setting. The story was nerve wrecking at almost every moment Lucy was in some kind of danger yet she stayed positive and never lost hope. I was surprised, and still am that this book was based on a true story. It made me realize what a privileged life I have have here in Austin. I can come and go freely where ever I like and live in the comfort of my home with my family around me.

From getting saved by lions to going to a native tribes primitive festival, this book was packed with adventure, action, and quite a bit of humor along the way. I would recommend this book to anyone and every one.

[Marisa Thalberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for our Mother/Daughter book club and this was one of my favorites so far. Exotic locale and circumstances, matched with a suspenseful plot peppered with macro thoughts about humanity. Great choice.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com

Thirteen-year-old Lucy Hoffman dreams of exploring the wilds of Africa - the hot desert sands beating around her and exotic animals around every corner for her to study. This wouldn't be so ironic if she didn't already live in Africa.

As the daughter of the American ambassador, Lucy spends her days cooped up in a guarded compound in Ethiopia with only school and the occasional game drive through the local wildlife park to keep her entertained. She even got in major trouble when she snuck off to visit the marketplace with her two native friends. Her mother actually sent out a SWAT team of marines to retrieve her!

Once she's finally allowed out again after that little incident, she and her friend Tana decide to sneak off for a concert at a local restaurant...and Lucy ends up kidnapped. Now, she really is out in the bush, fighting for her life and trying to escape her captors.

She never thought she'd be exploring Africa this way, and all she wants to do now is return home. During her captivity and escape, we catch a glimpse into her memories as she travels back, thinking of different times in her life and how they've brought her to today. With limited access to food and water, and having no idea where in Ethiopia she is, Lucy must use her wits and acquired knowledge of African ecology to survive and find a way home.

This endearing story about a headstrong, intelligent heroine is based on an actual incident that took place in Ethiopia in 2005. Although the real tale involved a native villager, this book works to bridge the gap between nationalities and point out that people of all cultures have the same goals, hopes, fears, and dreams.

[Sofia A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl who's mom has a big job and she moves to a lot of places around the world. My mom also works but she does not world at a big job. We don't have to move everywhere. It is very hard for Lucy (the main character ) because in the book she says she never really gets to see her mom because she said she is always at work and Lucy's mom never has time for her. Her mom thinks her job is more important than her. Lucy is never allowed to go outside. Her mom is super protective and never lets her go outside. One day her mom let her go to her friends house.her friend told her that they should sneak out and go to a nice cream shop. When they did Lucy's driver found them and brought them home. The driver took her friend home but they kidnapped Lucy and grout her to a tall building where she would wait until her parents came to get her. I have never been kidnapped so I really can't tell you how I can relate but I can relate by me not knowing where I am going in the car. This book is mainly about her trying to escape and living in the jungle. If you would want to know more i think you should read this awesome book!

[Malia M.]

Well what I think about this book is that it is amazing and a beautiful book that I had fallen in love with instantly. It is about an American girl who is living in Ethiopia with her mother because her mom is the ambassador and her dad got a different job in another place. So while her parents are separated her mother is doing everything in her power to keep her safe and sound. Until one day she gets kidnaped by smugglers 3 evil people trying to triad with them for the girl. But when the government will not do it. So when she decides to run into the African wilderness she goes through a lot of difficulties she tries to get home no matter what. I think that my favorite part of this book is when she comes face to face with the lions and only a few feet away. So the rating that I would give him would be is 5 stars because it has all the things that I would want in a book is in this one. It is amazing and a beautiful story and would recommend this to the world. I hope you read this book.

[Noorain K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few days ago I started reading Escape Under The Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem from what I've read it is so far about Lucy hating her super overprotective mom she has not ever leaving her embassy compound and when her mom finally decides to let her go to her friend Tana's house they leave with no one knowing later she gets kidnapped by Tana's family's driver Dawit kidnaps her, that's all I know so far. Yohalem does something that most authors don't do: switch stories every now and then to make the story cool also you can really see how characters look because of the rich descriptiveness here's an example of a way Iskinder is a small, thin man with snow-white hair, a high forehead, and skin color of a well-done toast. You can automatically tell that he is pretty old one key thing I find helpful is snow-white hair all old men have snow-white hair. One way I am like Lucy is I don't leave the house much. I give this book so far four stars because it is turning out to be really good

[Christian H · Rating 5 out of 5]

best blue bonnet ever

[Tori I · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super good!!!

[clau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this. I need to be honest, I bought it because it was cheap, I didn't except to love it as much as I do!

Lucy is a young white girl living her privileged life in Ethiopia, but she doesn't seem to notice how privileged she actually is. She doesn't seem to hate her mother but she doesn't agree with pretty much anything she does, as per a typical teenage daughter - mother relationship.

After she's kidnapped she shows us how brave and intelligent she is, by putting together every piece of information she's ever read, listened or watched about Ethiopia.

I loved reading everything that what was going through her mind in her attempt to escape. I definitely will be recommending this book!

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was wondering which part of this was based on a true story, and correctly guessed it was the part that seemed most fantastic and unbelievable (wild lions standing between crying girl and her abductors, scaring them off without harming her). The rest uses a whole different setup, and I suppose one could accuse it of whitewashing, but only if one was determined not to admire the idea of a non-native girl, i.e. one who's even MORE out of her element in the bush, performing fantastic feats of escape while putting her knowledge and appreciation of the country's flora, fauna, and indigenous people to good use. I personally found this to be a very exciting adventure that allowed me to picture myself in her (far more capable) shoes.

[Cas]

Read this in 5th grade and the other girls in my reading group were so passive aggressive for no reason. Formative.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best title ever that describes the African sky - the forever sky. Really think that captures Africa nicely. The story is also quite good. In fact the quality of children & teen books really spoils adult literature for me these days as the bar and quality of the plot, writing, and characters just seems so much higher in the children/teen publishing world.

Lucy is an American teen living in Ethiopia with her mom the American Ambassador and having all the typical teenage struggles with her parents. As you might expect, her mother is concerned for her safety in a place that values life and the rule of law differently. When her rebellious behavior results in her kidnapping, Lucy must rely on her own wits and resources to escape. As she contemplates her escape she realizes her captors are only one kind of threat that she will face in a wilderness full of dangerous predators. Terrific setting and the scene with the lions is worth the read alone. The story moves quickly and enjoyable. Definitely recommend it to tweens and teens.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Lucy Hoffman is living in Ethiopia with her mother, the American ambassador to that country, and she's unhappy. Her mother won't let her venture out alone, and she feels cooped up in the compound, with only a servant for company. Little does she know that she's about to be kidnapped and held for ransom! How she escapes and makes her way to safety was gripping. In fact, I enjoyed not only the story but the descriptions of life, customs, and the countryside of Ethiopia that I hated to see the story end. Lucy is a strong female character, which I liked, and savvy enough to admit to her mistakes and learn from them. The author indicates that this is based on a true story that happened in 2005. I especially like the last line at the end of the author's note (p.218): "Nationality and religion are just politics. We are all one species." I can't recommend this book highly enough. A great read!

[Luther Cobbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this first-person narrative, Lucy tells about her experience living in Ethiopia as a ferenji, a foreigner. Her mom is the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, so she lives a luxurious and sheltered life. But she really wants to get out and experience the country and culture. As a result, she reacts negatively to her mother's over-protectiveness, and she sometimes sneaks out with her friend to explore the city.

Unfortunately, this eventually leads to a terrible event. She is kidnapped. That's not the kind of adventure she had been dreaming of. At thirteen years old, she has to use her unique knowledge and skills to keep herself calm and adjust to her new scary reality.

Yohalem's first novel is a successful adventure that will keep readers guessing. This book is nominated for the 2012-2013 Texas Bluebonnet Award (Grades 3-6), but its tone and themes will likely be most interesting for grades 5-8 and higher.

[Anagha Pashilkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is about a 13 year old girl named lucy lucy mother is the ambassador of ethiopia so Lucy's life must be one big adventure, right? Wrong! Lucy's over protective mother keeps her locked up in the ambassadors residence and all she has to do is read books about the exotic outside world. one day Lucy got kidnapped, in this kind of situation I would totally freak out and try to run away from them. lucy runs into the wild savana and has to use all of her knowledge of african wildlife to survive.I can relate to Lucy when she is scared and she wants to go home because I would definitely want to be sleeping my cozy bed instead of a thorny tree. The theme of this book is to be happy with what you have because the only reason Lucy got kidnapped is because she snuck out with her friend because she thought she had a miserable and boring life. I rate this book 4 stars.

[Stevie D]

I am reading Escape Under The Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem. It's about a girl who is the daughter of the American ambassador to Ethiopia. She has a very private life because in her city it can be very dangerous. There are many people who don't like Americans. Lucy is frustrated and bored because she must stay at home most of the time.
I am reading the section that tells about her kidnapping. It is becoming very suspenseful. I like this book because it gives a lot of details and explains what the character is thinking. I like the part when she is dreaming
about a group of monkeys coming towards her.

[Tallulah · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was an enjoyable book that portrayed the life of an american ambassador's kid, which i don't think is written about much. the one thing i would change, was that it was a little bit unrealistic how little time Lucy was in the wilderness, because i don't think that her kidnappers would set up camp so close to other people.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll be reviewing this in more detail on Finding Wonderland. I liked it, and the premise was great, but wish it had explored the adventure aspect a bit more...

[Nayna P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun book filled with adventure and troubles in the savannah.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Because nutrition is so bad here, people are much smaller and thinner than people back home" (72).
"When I'm in the bush, my favorite view is an acacia tree - or, even better, a grove of them - silhouetted against the blue sky in a wide-open field of tall grass. Acacias are the trees everyone thinks of when they think of Africa" (70).
"English, please! There will be no Amharic here. We speak a language all three of us understand, or we don't speak at all" (78).

The above quotations stood out from this novel because Yohalem's words rest on such ingrained and oft repeated stereotypes. People in Africa are malnourished. Well, yes, people on planet earth who suffer from poverty can also suffer from malnourishment. But to limit this description to Africa just feels off. Lazy. Stereotypical. And then there is the tree, the one that graces the covers of all novels about Africa. The Out-of-Africa Tree with an orange sky and a village hut made out of mud and grass. The cover of Yohalem's novel positions a centers a white child on the cover to be an image of an American girl. But it's very common for books set in Africa to have that single silhouetted tree on the cover. Since it's not on the cover, the stereotypical grows on the pages of her text. And then the writing from the position of the outsider who imperiously imposes her language over the Ethiopians. The British female has the audacity to tell Ethiopians what language to speak. And they obey her. I cringed when I read this page. Once again, a western author creates a voice for Westerners in Africa, but leaves the voice of Africans off the pages of the text. Except for the words of Africans that solidify existing stereotypes.

The criminal, Dawit, has to be a drug dealer to make money because in his state of poverty, his wife and children have died. They could not afford medicine. He had to watch his entire family die. Yes, Yohalem creates Tana, a wealthy Ethiopian, but still her voice is absent. It is Lucy who tells us Tana's story.

While Lucy is sympathetic and a child who is open to culture, learning, wildlife, learning Amharic, and bridging cultural gaps, the writer still falls in to the trap of making stereotypes guide and shape Lucy's journey.

And yet the ISD elementary students LOVE this book!!! I can't be the turd in their punchbowl! Telling them why this book needs decolonizing methodologies saps the fun from their reading. How do I balance offering decolonizing methodologies with 4th & 5th graders but not at the expense of their joy of reading?

I don't know what to do here, but I have a feeling I'm gonna have to censor my inclination to sap their joy and and let them blissfully read a book that regurgitates stereotype after stereotype.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book "Escape Under the Forever Sky" by Eve Yohalem, a girl named Lucy is the daughter of the ambassador of the United States. Lucy lives in Ethiopia, a country in Africa. Lucy's mother is very protective, she won't let Lucy go out alone without her or someone she trusts, she won't let Lucy drink the tap water etc. One day Lucy sneaks out with her friend Tana to a concert. Tana's driver Dawin drove them there. Dawin droped them off and the girls found there seats. A couple minutes later Dawin droped them off he returned saying that both of them needed to go home. Both Lucy and Tana got in the car and drove to Tana's house to drop her off. Dawin started to drive Lucy home but turns the wrong way. Lucy soon notices that Dawin turned the wrong way on purpose, he turned the wrong way because he wanted to kidnap her. Lucy arrives at the kidnappers destination. Another man comes out and knocks her out. Lucy wakes up a day later in a little shack. A woman walks in with what looked like tap water and a plate of injeria, a spongy type of food. Lucy soon learns the woman is named Helena and the other man is named Markos. Dawin, Markos, and Helena all plan to keep Lucy for money. Lucy also notices that she needs to escape. How will Lucy escape? Read the book to find out what happens next. I loved how this book had many visuals in the writing. I loved this because I felt like I was in Lucy's situation. Also, the book also made it seem like Lucy had an ordinary life like everyone else. That is why I gave this book five stars.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I selected this book from the library but I liked the first chapter. I also liked the way the book skipped around in time, never more than a few months, to fill in gaps in the story. I started to read it, then I put it down for a while. When I came back to it, I found that it actually still flowed well because the story itself flowed well.

I enjoyed learning about Africa although I sometimes had trouble with the whole "white girl" experience. I was divided over it. Was it too patronizing? Was I feeling like that because of my own experiences? Was it patronizing to the readers? I don't know.

I really liked that the story is inspired by an actual event: a 12-year old girl was kidnapped and rescued by a pride of lions in Africa. I really want to look up that story.

The main character felt real. She wasn't perfect and, in some ways, she asked to be kidnapped by her heedless decisions but isn't that the point? Kids are supposed to ignore adults and spread their wings. The decisions aren't always safe but it's part of being a kid if they ever want to grow up.

I'm looking forward to telling my students about this book.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's much different than any other book I've ever read. Lucy is such a strong character and I love how determined she is. She acts just like your normal teenage girl she has an attitude but is really sweet as well. Tana and Teddy were amazing characters and I loved how Teddy had a big part. The representation of different races and religions is great. Lucy non-religious but Tana is Muslim and Teddy is Christian and they all respect one another. I also love a quote from the book that we are all one species which is such a great message to remember in our current time. Overall the book was amazing and I encourage you to read it.

[Hazel Hamlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, Lucy started off as an ugly american who thought she knew everything about Ethiopia and what to do and not to do - she was very obviously wrong. As an American ambassador’s daughter, she seemed to know little about how to engage conversations with other people and when she did, made a fool of herself. Was the lion mating thing funny? Yes. Is her mom wrong for getting upset? No way.

Nevertheless, her escape journey was pretty interesting to read and imagine in my head. I thought naming the river “Moses” was a good choice - I think if she didn’t know anything about wildlife, she wouldn’t have survived.

[Paris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escape under the forever sky is centered around Lucy, our female protagonist whose mother is the U.S. ambassador of Ethiopia. Despite Lucys experience with new cultures her mother is still severely over-protective of her daughter, keeping her on a tight leash the only times lucy is really even allowed to leave the house is to go to either her school or to her new wealthy ethiopian friends house. Because of this their opinions often clash when it comes to how much freedom lucy is allowed and whether or not she is ready to go out and explore their new home. However, Lucy’s call for adventure is soon answered, although not quite in the way she expects, when she is captured and held for ransom. She must use her knowledge of the terrain, wildlife and people of Ethiopia to escape her captors and return home.
A very fast-pace and engaging novel, this book was not only interesting but also simple and easy to follow. It is the rare kind of book that even children like my younger brother, who despise reading, enjoyed because they not only understand it but find it entertaining. Suspenseful enough to hold your interest, but with a very sugary “everything turns out alright” kind of happy ending.
Although I found it satisfactory as a quick in between books kind of read, there were several things nagging me about it long after I had put it down. I could not figure out what was so different about it, the plot line and central conflict of “being stolen by bad guys” isn’t anything particularly original nor was lucys narrative. So what made this book feel so different? And then In a horrible realization I saw it, and it was so painfully obvious that it made me cringe. It was the SETTING. The only stories that I had read about africa all took place in either Egypt, Morocco, or the desert. No specific desert country, just the desert.
Escape under the forever sky had not only taken place in a very specific African nation, it had also given description on the culture (including mentions of the language, daily life and indigenous tribes) but had also (praise Eve Yohalem for this!) very clearly shown that despite being an african nation, Ethiopia was NOT without wealth. Though there is a great deal of poverty in Ethiopia, there are also markets, sports stadiums, and high rating schools. Despite all these great things there was another major factor that I am still debating whether I like or not.
The fact that Lucy was a privileged anglo-saxon american. On the positive side of this, it shows how Africa does indeed contain a variety of races and how caucasians are not something completely unheard of there. And I can also understand why her being such makes sense because it not only intensifies the feeling of her not belonging and standing out but also gives the antagonists a motive to kidnap her (being an american ambassadors child after all). Making her an American also makes sense because it would connect with the majority of the readers who are most likely going to be middle class to wealthy European or north American Children.
On the other hand, I can’t help but feel that the author could have expanded on the story, why not write narratives from Lucys two closest ethiopian born friends? See the perspective of an intelligent young boy coming from a small village to study at a nice school in the big city on scholarship or her other friend a wealthy born African, a narrative almost unheard of in childrens literature. It makes you wonder, why do modern authors insist on keeping western world protagonists even in books that take place outside of the western world? Novelist Chimamanda Adichie mentions in her TED talk ‘the Danger of a Single Story’ that as a child she only ever read books by American and British authors, and so, despite her being Nigerian, she only ever wrote about american and British characters that were all white with blue eyes. Although she admits to having loved the books because they stirred her creativity as well as her love of writing. They also instilled in her the Idea from a young age that Africans did not exist in Literature.
This sounds horrible to me, I cannot even imagine a childhood with books filled with characters I could not personally relate too. Characters are your friend who take you with them on grand adventures through your stories. To not have any characters like yourself in books, to simply have your culture be nonexistent is a thought so foreign to me that even attempting to imagine such a childhood is inconceivable.
I think that any negative feeling I had after reading the book were not from the story itself (because all in all it really was a lovely read) but from the reminder that the western society has created large gaps in its youths education of third world nations because it lacks books and characters and so has not provided an accurate image of the people of Africa. We are raised believing that all of Africa is dry, impoverished, and barren. Despite its size Africa is seen not as a continent full of many countries with a variety of cultures but as a singular primal arrid nation.
So I guess what I’m saying is that it was a great book but reading it also depressed me because I was once again reminded of the lack of African Authors. Such novelists are not unheard of though, just look at Chimamanda Adichie and all her wonderful works! It gives me hope that soon we will be hearing of characters from all walks of life around the world and what a wonderful story that will be.

[Bernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up from the school library for “great outdoors” theme and because I’ve always been intrigued by this survival story “inspired by real-life events”. Come to find the author was inspired by a news story about a a kidnapped Ethiopian girl who escaped and was protected by lions for several hours. In this case, the author changed the girl to the white daughter of the American ambassador and the incident with the lions was a relatively small part of the plot. I guess the description said inspired by and not based on, but a still felt it was a bit of a stretch.

[Jovelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

To quote another review I read:
"So the moral of the story is that if you are disobedient then you will get kidnapped but that will only lead to you getting back in less then a week with more friends and a life ten times better than before while you get to live adventurously exploring African wildlife which has been your dream since you were six. Sneak out and be disrespectful kids!"
Not to mention it's poorly written and the main character was just... bleh. The only reason it's not one star is the fact that the true story it's really loosely based on is actually fascinating.

[Reagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a few years back, and although it is not advanced enough for me to read anymore, I borrowed my sister's copy on an airplane just to re-read. The plot of this book was very exciting. As a 12 year old, I related to Lucy the main character a lot. For any young girls (or boys) who want to start getting into more advanced/ longer book, I would recommend this one as it was hard to put down, and I did not ever want to finish reading.