The Great Escape

by Natalie Haynes

It's the summer holidays and Millie's bored stiff. Every week, she has to clean windows with her dad at a nearby laboratory. But she's sure something weird is going on inside… Then, one day, a cat comes hurtling through the lobby towards her… and asks her for help. And Max needs a lotof help. He's trying to escape, he wants to know who kidnapped him, and why - who on earth would want to make cats that can talk? And he needs Millie to help him rescue the friends he's left behind before it's too late…

Interntional animal-struggling, iliicit computer-hacking, break-neck chases and a fast-talking cat. Just your ordinary summer holidays...

Genres: Cats, Childrens

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2007

About the author

Natalie Haynes, author of THE FURIES (THE AMBER FURY in the UK), is a graduate of Cambridge University and an award-winning comedian, journalist, and broadcaster. She judged the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and was a judge for the final Orange Prize in 2012. Natalie was a regular panelist on BBC2’s Newsnight Review, Radio 4’s Saturday Review, and the long-running arts show, Front Row. She is a guest columnist for the The Independent and The Guardian. Her radio series, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, was first broadcast in March 2014.

Reviews

[madhumoiselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

im entirely too old for this one, but i couldn't just leave a natalie haynes book unread.

[Leeanne G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book overall but it made me squirm a bit. I don’t enjoy reading about animal testing. It makes me feel ill and physically squirm. Even though I don’t use products that have been tested on animals (at least, as far as I know) it still happens in this world, and that bothers me. I’m not here to have a debate on whether or not animal testing should be allowed, so please don’t start one. I chose to push myself out of my comfort zone because this book sounded like a fun adventure and it’s a kid’s book, so I knew it wouldn’t be too graphic. It wasn’t. It starts off a bit slow but as soon as Max comes running out of that building it takes off flying, and only gets better as it goes along.

I loved all the characters. Max is such a typical cat. He acts and speaks exactly how you’d imagine any cat to, with sarcasm and superiority. However, he’s still sweet, caring and sensitive. All the human characters were relatable and fun. Millie is 12 years old, an avid reader and very smart (but not too smart that she wasn’t realistic). I admired her determination and loyalty to Max and the other characters.

"Millie often began conversations as though the other person had been listening to the inside of her head for several moments before she started to speak."
I was excited when I read this part about how Millie thinks because I do this all the time and leave everyone around me confused.

Jake is really relatable because some of the tech stuff Ben and Millie talked about went completely over my head too. I’m sure it would be difficult to have a younger sibling who’s a genius. Ben, the child genius, is great too and the part where he pretends that he and his bike had been sideswiped by a car was a hilarious, if not very realistic scenario.

I think Natalie Haynes weaved animal rights issues and the dangers of technology into this book very well. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned from this, and things to consider about humanity. I too felt ashamed to be human after the big reveal of why the cats were being tested on. It’s something that, unfortunately, doesn’t seem so far-fetched for someone to try, and that’s the scary, disturbing part.

I found it kind of ironic that the dangers of technology is such a big part of this book when this was written in 2007. Millie, her father, and Ben are already obsessed with cleaning as much information about themselves as they can from all their computers. Natalie Haynes or someone around her obviously predicted that things were only going to get worse and used this book to warn us of it.

"My dad thinks that if you only store the things you can’t keep in your head on the computer, there’s less for someone to steal, so I delete everything I can, and keep my vitals on a memory stick…". I mean, they're obsessed, but they have a point.

This turned out to be way more funny than I expected and there were several laugh out loud moments. I think Natalie Haynes did a great job with this and I'd willingly read it again some time.

"'I spent years of my life thinking children were simply noisy and sticky. I get kidnapped, I escape, and every child I meet is some kind of master crook. Millie is like an arch-villain, plotting away with her nerves of steel, [Jake] is able to elude large dogs and disappear at will, and [Ben] apparently controls the electricity supply for this entire area... I am either the luckiest cat in England or this country is populated entirely by unusually gifted children with criminal tendencies. And yet, you all look so innocent...'" Never underestimate the children, Max. They know more than anyone gives them credit for.

[Afifah · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, it was pretty boring. Then Millie met Max, and it was full of adventures and fun and everything else in between.

At the beginning, I see this book as a middle grade book, like Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo that I enjoyed earlier this year. But the topic that this book touched made it more appropriate for young adult(?). Not that I think middle grade kids won't enjoy this book, they definitely will, but I think older kids will appreciate the humor and the values that this book offer more than the younger ones.

Overall, I really love the story in this book. It made me laugh, it made me almost cry, and it definitely made me wanted to hug all of my cats and tell them that it's okay if they wanted to talk :p

So.. 5 out of 5 stars for this book. I am a bit surprised that I enjoyed this book so much at the end, but it was such a nice book.

[Graeme Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable romp.

Although this is probably classified as YA, I’d think it would be enjoyed by adults as well, appealing to a similar demographic to Madeleine d’Engle’s ‘A Wrinkle in Time’.
The viewpoint protagonist is a thirteen year old girl who is bright, but not unrealistically so, recent convert to vegetarianism, who rescues a cat from a drug research lab. And is rather startled to find that this cat can talk.
The writing style is enjoyable with a nicely understated foreshadowing.
The idea of a talking cat around the house is intriguing. There is apparently a Japanese phase that can be approximately translated as “the way you act when only the cat can see you.” Given the basic cat ethic of “Of course the universe revolves around me, why did you feel the need to ask?”, a cat able to communicate what they’ve seen could expect a significant upgrade in catering and accommodation.
A fun read

[Taz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read, really. The beginning wasn't that interesting, but as the story progressed I got more hooked into it. I like that although it's an interesting and sort of gripping story, you wouldn't finish in in only a few days. It took me about six days. It's and nice book and I think it was a good idea for the author to add characters of different ages. It's worth a read and my true rating would be an 8.5/10.

[Rebecca Danese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Given to me by a friend for my children to read, but as honestly my kids are both a bit too young yet to tackle this one, I decided to read it myself. Several laugh out loud moments on the train where I'm sure people around me thought I was mad, but I loved the story, the pragmatic heroine and her unlikely but lovable sarcastic compatriot, Max the cat.
Loved it!

[Elentarri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and entertaining. Light and fluffy.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Written by comedian and writer Natalie Haynes, it is a funny and exciting mystery adventure story. 12 year old Millie and her dad are helping out a friend who runs a window cleaning business. One day when her dad and his boss are up on the cradle cleaning the windows of a laboratory Millie is accosted by a cat escaping from the lab. She is shocked when he introduces himself as Max.

The story continues at breathless pace, taking in pre-teen computer hackers, kidnapped pet cats and unscrupulous toy manufacturers. It won an award from animal rights group PETA, but animal welfare messages are not overt. I felt that the ending was a little contrived, but all in all it's a great fun read, and I hope that Natalie Haynes writes for children again. It would be a great class novel in connection with a literacy topic on adventures and mysteries, and readers Y4+ will love it.

[Sadhana Bala · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay, it has a common plot, nothing new or suprising.....

[Mandy Botlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and fun, a great book for kids. I enjoyed it too. Natalie Haynes, a wonderful classicist comedian, does an excellent job of weaving animal rights into this adventurous children's book.