Someone Is Hiding on Alcatraz Island

by Eve Bunting

When Danny saves an old woman from a mugger's attack, he doesn't expect to tangle with the toughest gang in school, the Outlaws. But then, he doesn't know the mugger is the gangleader's brother. Desperation overcomes his fear when he heads to Alcatraz Island to escape the Outlaws’ revenge When he realizes the gang has followed him there, his terror turns to action.
 
Hiding out in the abandoned prison, Danny feels sure he will be safe. But no one has ever escaped from Alcatraz alive. Now that the gang is stalking him, is death the only way out?

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Adventure, Suspense

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Patrick Waite · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island" was a intense, suspenseful book. As the book progressed, the attempt to escape the capture of the thugs grew in difficulty. Danny regrets the decisions he makes in the book which leads him to greater problems.
Danny decides to stop a criminal like a heroic figure. As he calls out his name to everyone around, he sees the boy he stopped was a gangmember's brother. The gang becomes angry and wants revenge on Danny which leads to the exciting chase on Alactraz Island. As he attempts to hind out in crowds, run down parts of the building, and in the woods he cannot complete hide from the "Outlaws".
Danny's decisions create the plot of the suspenseful story. If he didn't blurt his name out to everyone, he wouldn't have been chased, tracked down, and almost killed on Alactraz Island.

[Scott M Belba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read this book when I was 14. I enjoyed it then, even though it took me forever to read, and as an adult I still enjoy it for nostalgia purposes if not literary. The most important thing to remember is that this book was written for kids/ young adults and not adults. As a book written for younger people it works exceptionally well.
So the plot surrounds Danny a 14 yr old kid who by an unfortunate set of circumstances runs afoul of the local high school gang the Outlaws. This book was written in the later 70’s so also keep this in mind. So Danny one day while running from the gang ( made up of Cowboy the leader, Jelly Bean, Maxie, and Priest) decides to hop a boat to Alcatraz island to get away from the gang. Unfortunately they follow him. He decides to stay on the island overnight only to discover the gang has done the same still looking for him.
Now there are very few characters outside of the one’s already mentioned except for a 18 yr old park ranger named Biddy. She meets Danny on the boat and gets caught up in his troubles. The entire book is told from Danny’s perspective in his narrative so I thought the author did a very good job in letting you really feel for Danny and understand his motivation. The Outlaws are pretty standard villains but Eve Bunting also does a great job in giving you enough back story about the group, not the individual people, to understand Danny is in real danger.
So do I have issues with the book? Yes but they are from an adult perspective. First all of the people the story are kids and the idea is a bit far fetched. Also the boys in the gang, all 17 or older would be in an enormous amount of trouble. You see the things they do assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment etc are all done on Alcatraz a notional park and to a park ranger. All these things would be federal crimes that would land the gang in prison for about 15 to 25 yrs., but as it’s written for kids these things are never brought up.
All and all it’s a tense, fast paced well moving quick read. Enjoy it for what it is. Put your brain aside and go for a really fun ride.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a reading competition in elementary school. It was actually on a banned book list so we had to get permission to receive a copy for me to read it. Suspenseful. Chilling. Great read.

[Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review: Someone's Hiding On Alcatraz Island

In the book Someone’s Hiding On Alcatraz Island By Eve Bunting there is a main character named Danny and he has a problem. That problem is a gang called the “Outlaws” and they are trying to catch him. As he is running away he gets on a boat and goes to Alcatraz Island. Danny meets a girl named Biddy who is a ranger in the Island for tours. He stays there for the night and gets captured by the Outlaws on the Island. He tries to escape in the cell he was put in.
The character Danny is a scared boy in the book when he is running from the Outlaws and is boarding the ship to go to the island. He builds up a lot of bravery as he stays on the island and learns to be tough and has his friend Biddy with him though it. Danny works through his thoughts of his father and when he went to prison he also does not worry when he is stuck in the jail cell and is trying to find a way out.
My opinion on the plot is that it was very slow moving. The plot was mainly about bullying by the Outlaws to the Danny and a little Biddy. Also readers might really like how Danny keeps talking about how he is going to try to to get out of the cell with Biddy and started digging out with nail clippers though the old wall. Danny starts to get to know Biddy more and they become friends during the book.
The author did very good on this book it was very interesting throughout most of the book. He did good with using first person I think that suited the book very well with Danny speaking and thinking about what he is going to do next. There was that thrill of excitement in the beginning when he jumps on the boat and is running away from the Outlaws for what he did. He did not want to get beat up by the Outlaws.
The author could have had a lot of different ideas into the book but the book was great the way it was. I learned a lot about Alcatraz Island when I was reading the book.The book was getting really boring in the middle of the book just them sitting in the cell and them talking to each other there could be more conflict there between the Outlaws and Danny.

[Tari Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because a student I worked with had to read it and I needed to know about it in order to help him. What I liked about the book was that it took place mainly on Alcatraz Island. I have always been fascinated by Alcatraz and had visited it 2 summers earlier. Because of my experiences, I was able to visualize where the character was and what it felt like to be in those areas of the prison.

The story itself if just so-so. It is a bout a boy, Danny, who helps and elderly woman who is being attacked. Unbeknownst to him, the attacker is the brother of a gang member. When word gets out that it was Danny who beat up the brother, the gang seeks to take it's revenge. Running for his life, Danny ends up jumping onto the ferry to Alcatraz. During the ride over to the island, Danny meets Biddy, a cute, young park ranger. After touring Alcatraz with the group for a bit, Danny realizes that he has to get off the island. He knows that if he takes his scheduled ferry back, the gang will be waiting for him. Instead, he opts to take an earlier one. Unfortunately, as he is heading to the dock, he sees the gang members coming off the ferry. Petrified, all he can do is hide. He is hoping to hide out long enough to see the members leave on the last ferry, then he will spend the night and go home in the morning. Unfortunately, the bad actors also stay and Danny desperately tries to avoid them. In doing so, in ends up unintentionally hurting one of the members who is looking for him. He ends up finding Biddy, who has stayed on the island to surprise the night watch woman (as it is her birthday). Danny and Biddy get caught by the gang members and thrown into to separate cells. They try to concoct a plan to get out. I won't go into further details as I don't want to spoil the story.

I know this is a book for younger readers but was disappointed in how juvenile it was. This is not really a book I recommend to others.

[Jacob Fink]

The novel, Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island, by Eve Bunting is a fictional thriller that follows a boy named Danny as he runs from a group of outlaws ending up at Alcatraz Island. It is about Danny (the main character), interfiering with one of the outlaws brother durring mugging. After this the group chased Danny all the way to Alcatraz Island where Danny hides and ends up getting trapped on the island overnight. I highly recomend the book because of the engaging characters and the exciting plot.
The main characters are a valuable piece to the plot becuase they have very distinct characteristics. Danny is the protaganist of the story. He is a scrawny, shy kid for his age, but he is brave. Cowboy is the leader of the group of outlaws and the brother of the kid that Danny beat up. Cowboy is a fearless criminal with no hesitation to do whatever he needsto do to get what he wants. He is the one that wants most to hurt Danny. JellyBean is also one of the outlaws. He is very outgoing, but they call him Jerllybean because of hisw weight. He also really wants to get to Danny, but his motives were getting inside the head of Danny. Without these great characters, the novel would not be the excellent novel that it is. I think the people that would enjoy this book would be people that love fictional thrillers. It also has 144 pages so it is an easy read for anyone in 7th to 8th grade and above. In all, it is a very good novel and i recomend it.

[Avery Suhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island

I give “Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island” a 4 and ½ star because the book was a great and I would recommend this book to lots of people.
I like “Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island” because it gives suspense. For example it keeps you guessing when the main character (Danny) has been trapped on the island of Alcatraz by his sworn enemies. Can he find his way off the island without being caught? I guess you won’t know until you read the book. Also the grade level of this is perfect for any one from the age 9-45 and I happen to be 11 so this book was an exciting book for me. Finally this book has a lot of connections with the real world. For example it might relate to you because you have been to see the world famous Alcatraz Island while meeting your dream girl or guy on the boat ride there just like Danny. Also you might have being chased down by bullies who are older than you all around town in common too. In conclusion “Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island” is a adventurous, exciting, horrific, fantastic book to read. So once you read it tell you friends how good it is and have them read this amazing book.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island is a very dated story about Danny who has offended the local gang and has run into them on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In order to avoid being beaten or worse, Danny takes the ferry over to Alcatraz Island thinking the gang will be gone by the time he comes back from the tour. While on the ferry, he meets Biddy, a young female park ranger going to work on the island. To Danny's surprise, the gang follows him over to the island and he then tries to find a way to hide.

This book is very short but lacks character development. For example, we really don't learn much about the gang members or why they do the things that they do. The details describing Alcatraz and the tour are well researched and historically accurate. The story does build the suspense, but it leaves a lot of details unresolved. In 1984 when this book was written, it was probably very interesting, but it doesn't hold up to modern standards for young adult novels.

[Ovard J. 7 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four outlaws, the gang racing after Danny all odds hem racing down the Bay answer running at full speed. As the gang is chasing Danny,Danny gets lucky and hurry and slips on a tour boat just as its leaving. The gang is ragging with anger not being able to Catch Danny while,Danny thinks he'said going to Alcatraz and will be safeasier. Read the book to find out if he will be ok or not. The theme that I think could be for this book is, Doubting things aren't good. Some reasons that relate to the theme is when Danny thinks he is going to be fine since he escaped the gang. Another reason is when Danny kicked one of the gang members off the ladder from the water tower and Danny thought the gang members was fine but he wasn't. The last reason is when Danny didn't think at all that the gang would arrive at Alcatraz and even stay overnight to track him down.

[Chance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Escape on alcatraz is a bad book I do not recommend it had about 30 pages of him just talking. The main character Danny sitting and talking about his life and what's going one for a while. The only one thing that I enjoyed was the characters, mostly because they were likeable and they just felt real. The setting kind of stayed at the same spot wich made it not worth reading. I do not still recommend this book. I feel like they could make a new and better book out of this. This book has more than 200 pages

[Kaley Hardy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a three star book for me. It has some action and exciting parts but it kinda ends like you would probably predict it would, it has a classic ending. If you like books with big twist’s you might not like this book, it doesn’t have a lot of surprises but depends on your opinion and what you like.
There are some though exciting parts like when Danny gets the whole done, gets through, and starts to beat up the outlaws. There are some good parts to this book. So if you like some action and people beating up each other you might like this book.

[Rene Aube · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually don't read suspense books. Due to a recommendation from another book, I picked this one up at the library. When I sat down to read it, the afternoon flew by as I was pulled through the book with the main character as he figures out how to resolve the pickle he's in.

A great read that takes place on Alcatraz Island and also depicts an atmosphere that contributes well to the whole plot.

[Maggie Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites. I first read it in college for a literacy class. Since then I have read it to a sixth grade class I did a long term sub job for (they LOVED it) and shared it with my kids. It is a great book showing how bullying outside of school happens and can quickly get out of hand.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be honest with you. I did a book report from this book when I was in the 7th grade. Ever since then I have read this book over and over again. I really do love it by now I can tell you what happen from details to details. I don't understand why I love this book but I do. That is why I gave this book 5 stars

[Navin Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fantastic thriller titled ¨Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island¨ by Eve Bunting is full of suspense, and action it follows a young man named Danny-Boy that must escape the gang of ruffians after him.
The work of Bunting follows the riveting journey of Danny-Boy, the main character. When Danny-Boy saw an old woman being mugged he quickly took action and fought off the thief, little to his knowledge the thief was cowboys brother. While being chased, he quickly gets on a boat to Alcatraz island, unexpectedly the gang followed him on the next boat over.
I found the book to be very thrilling, full of suspense and action. I loved how Danny-boy's desperation to escape the island and the gang grew tremendously throughout the story. I also really enjoyed how the book really painted a picture of the island and the prison in your mind through described language. The only thing i didn't like about the book was that it had action but you could easily predict what was gonna happen.
Overall, the book was a good, easy, quick read a thumbs for me.

[Mindy Hobensack]

I loved this book. I used the book talk by Patrick Jones to present it to middle readers. We couldn't keep it on our shelves. Although it is an older title, it is a great read for tweens. It involves a gang, a chase, and some tense moments.

[Anjie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun YA read. Short, quick, and engaging (read in just a few hours). Would be a great book to get a kid to read. Closer to four stars because of the nostalgia and The Outsiders feel.

[Katie Richard]

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[Mark Leuchten · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island" is a good, suspenseful action novel. The book takes place in San Francisco and on the island of Alcatraz, which is just off the coast of San Francisco. The gang called "Outlaws" are chasing him because one day Danny saw a boy trying to rob an old lady and he tackle the boy to the ground and got him in trouble with the police. But little did Danny know that the boy he got in trouble was the brother of the gang's leader.

The story begins with Danny (Main Character) trying to escape from the "Outlaws" who are chasing him. As he runs away is begins to think of a way to escape, and right then he sees the boat for Alcatraz leaving and he just manages to get on the boat. When the boat reaches the island he goes along with the group on the tour. Later in the tour a woman on crutches says she can't take anymore walking. She decides to take the next boat leaving and Danny saw it as a chance to get off the island. When Danny and the woman reach the dock, Danny is fill with shock because right before him are the "Outlaws". Danny sprints back on to the land after this encounter and tries to hide. While searching he comes across the morgue where he decide to hide inside. After hearing the "Outlaws" tour group pass the morgue he decides he would spend the night on Alcatraz.

Later on that day, around the evening Danny runs down to the ranger hut on the island in a zigzag pattern so he wouldn't be seen, but when he got there, there was nobody inside so Danny went back to hiding at the morgue. Hours past as he sat there and finally he stepped out and looked around. As he peered down the hill he sees movement near the restrooms. He he began to wave to the figure because he belives it is a ranger, but then a second one appears, then a third, and then a fourth. He realized it was the "Outlaws". Now they knew where he was and Danny didn't know if he was going to make it.

[Ryan N · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book, "Someone is hiding on Alcatraz Island", is a very non-engaging, slow, book and I would not recommend it to a friend. I rated this book 2 stars. In the book, I felt that Danny was the only one that had character background. All the other characters had barley any character background. For example, when someone one was talking and they had not descriptive character background, and they were portraying an important part of the story. "'Who are the Outlaws?"he'd ask, and I'd say they were the worst four punks in school." (Pg. 20) Every single one of the Outlaws are important people of the story, and none of them had any description, it only says they are four punk kids in school.
Also in the story I had felt that the in the beginning of the story was slow. In the very beginning someone saw four people by a Juke box. First of all, I didn't even know who was seeing them. "I suddenly saw the four of them, standing around the human Jukebox. they were only a half a block away from me, but they hadn't seen me." (Pg. 1)
The last thing that I didn't like about the book is that it was hard to stay engaged in the story as I was reading. When I am not engaged in my reading it makes it harder for me to keep track of what is happening in the story. "I tried to breathe deeply and not panic. Step back...don't turn...it's never wise to turn your back on the Outlaws."(Pg. 2) Pretty much, Danny was running away from the Outlaws and hiding from them. For the next three pages it just talks about Danny running away from the Outlaws and getting on the boat. At first I was getting excited when he was trying not panic. And then I got less engaged when it just started talking about him running away.
So I would not recommend this book to a friend.

[Pj Armentrout · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can realate to the main character danny in someways already. the story line is great, easy to follow plus its a book that is ment for teens like me so the dialog i dont have trouble understanding. how i relate to danny in this book is that i know what its like to be picked on and beat up, i know the emotional, mental, and physical feelings all to well. i also know how it feels to be beat up for doing the right thing and/or doing what i believe is right. when danny helped the old lady from getting her purse stolen by the little brother of the one leader of the outlaws by hitting the kid and knocking him out to retreive the purse he didnt acknowledge the fact of the trouble that his actions would bring to the safety of his life. i felt bad for danny being chased by the outlaws gang jsut for doing something he felt was the right thing do, i dont think it was impartial to any extent to have to run in fear of getting beat up, hurt, and/or killed for that matter. i thought it was even more absurd that the outlaws chased danny all the way to alcatrz island and not only lock him up in one of the cells but one of the lady security guards of the island as well. i still dont think that what the outlaws recieved wasn't a drastic enough punshiment, a more appropriate punshiment in my terms would have been life in prison nothing more! it was one of the better books i've read!

[Nicholas Rosebrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Someone is Hiding on Alkatraz Island" by Eve Bunting was a very intense book that kept me reading.In this book the main character, Danny, made the outlaws (a group of thugs) very angry. When the outlaws were chasing Danny he has no where to go except on a boat to Alkatraz island, the outlaws then followed him. While Danny was in a boat he met a girl named Biddy who was a ranger to the island. Once the outlaws got on the island Danny had to stay the night and try to think of a way to get off of the island safely.

This book mainly takes place on Alkatraz Island. This setting plays a significant roll to the story because it is the only place for Danny to run to and the prison has great places for Danny to hide which helps make the story very suspenseful. Some emotional qualities in the story were determination, intelligence, and boldness. The dialogue in this story is very effective. The things that the author writes makes you feel like your in the characters position and it makes you visualize the island and the setting. The reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 was because the ending didn't say if the outlaws went to jail or if Danny ran into the outlaws again or what happened to Biddy and Danny after they got off the island.

[Simon Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "Someone Is Hiding On Alcatraz Island" I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. It had a very slow start but slowly it became more climatic. I felt none of the characters were rounded at all. The characters were mostly flat and had no background information other one or two things for each character. When it was suspenseful it was a great book but when it was being dragged out it became quiet boring. All in all I think it was an okay book but I would probably not read it again.

To start off this book the main character gets in a fight with a mugger. He never knew that the mugger he just fought was the younger brother of the leader if the toughest gang in school. This scared him and he fled to a boat headed to Alcatraz island... Little did he know he was followed by the outlaws. This Is a very odd part of the story when a park ranger he meets on the boat goes and finds him a jacket and then just says bye ! And gets off the boat... But this is not the last we see of her. I will not giveaway the ending but the most climactic part is yet to come and it is by far the best part if the story in my opinion.

[Scotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning of the story the main character was shy and a bit timid. But as the story went on the main character was getting less shy and timid. Throughout the story the author makes the story very interesting but at some points the author stretches stuff out and becomes very boring and very exciting. I do like the plot of the story, it is at an old abandon prison that only has tours that still go on the island and inside the prison because the prisons walls where getting soft and people tried to get through the walls, but only a few did. Only one person has every escaped Alcatraz Island. The theme of the story is very cool but needs to be more exciting in some parts and the other parts are just fine. The theme is developed after the main character hurts one of the outlaws brothers then the outlaws want to hurt him and they chase i=him all over the place.

The story plot of the story is ok but there could be way more action then during the story. The style of the book is ok but it is boring. i give this book a 3 star rating.

[Ms. · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS AN AWESOME BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is adventurous, suspenseful, exciting, great, and it's just so awesome! It's about a kid named Danny who made a FATAL mistake. He saved an old lady from being mugged, but the mugger was Priest's kid brother. Priest is a member of the Outlaws, a group of DANGEROUS delinquents. They now want revenge. When Danny was spotted by them, he had to escape by going on a tour boat to Alcatraz island. But the Outlaws never give up on catching their quarries, so they follow! Danny realizes that he has to take out all the members of the Outlaws; all 4 of them. Will the young pip-squeak capture all the 12th grade delinquents, or will end up getting injured, or more likely murdered? Will he take out all 4 of them: Maxie, with a switchblade, Jelly Bean, with a buck knife, Priest, with an icepick, and finally, Coeboy, the mastermind of the Outlaws..... read to find out!

[Liam Morrison]

I think this book was good in the sense of suspense.The book definitely kept you reading until the book was over and made the reader feel he was actually in the main character's shoes. I thought that the book was very well written because they gave the reader very descriptive words. It was very good at the end when he took out all the gang and saved the girl. The author all in all did a very well job on the content of the book.
On the other hand i think that the author still could have made a better setup of the story. The author skipped a very important part of the book in the beginning. The author should have stated the part where he witnessed the mugging instead of informing the reader through flashbacks. The author could have also made the girl Danny's age and not a guard. This would cause more love at the end instead of not forgetting each other all together after they leave.

[Jacob Smith Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book ( Some one is Hiding On Alcatraz Island )alot. The characters were entertaining and interesting. Like Cowboy I found him to be very dark and mysterious. Preist was definetly came off as the violent one. the other two Maxie and Jelly bean appeared almost as hench men. The setting was great it really could of occured anywhere but I was happy with the alcatraz theme. I just found them to Danny and Biddy were very good characters I thought it was pretty good how Danny was just an average kid and Biddy being nice and as helpful as she was keeping them distracted while Danny dug the hole I saw them as well paired charachters for the book. This book also had a good deal of both action and suspence.

[Patrick Ladd · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all, I think that this was a good short story to read. Although I did not like some parts of the story. I did not think that the story had a very strong plot line. I had a hard time understanding the back round details of the story. I think it did a good job of describing the characters and they're thoughts in the story. I think that it was some what unrealistic in a way. I don't think that something like this would have happened in real life. I do not think that real people would have he same thought processes as those who had in the story. I liked the excitement of the story but could not relate to the characters very well. It had me interested in a way though and I was wanted to find out what happened in the end!

[Andrew Zilka · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book "someone is hiding on Alcatraz" was an okay book about a young kid named Danny. In the story Danny saves an old lady from being mugged. Little does Danny know it was a little brother of a gang member in a gang called the outlaws. The outlaws see Danny on the street and Danny trying to get away jumps on a ferry to Alcatraz island. Little does Danny know the outlaws followed him. The book had decent suspense but the plot was weak. I found it hard to read and to stay engaged with. It was confusing and I couldn't relate to the characters. The book was not very realistic and the characters would not have the same thought proses as they did in the story in real life. All in all I would not recommend this book for a suspense action choice.

[Gavin Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that Someone is Hiding on Alcatraz Island a really god book. Eve Bunting does a good job at setting the theme for the story. He did this by having the character say in the beginning "I suddenly saw four of them..." with you not knowing who "they" are, it gave a mysterious theme to the beginning. That is also the part that got me hooked into reading more to find out who "they" are.
The characters in the book are also relatable in the book. The main character Danny is a really clever kid who is just a little smaller than an average kid. When he gets in trouble with a gang he uses his wits to out smart the overpowering gang members.