Caught!: Nabbing History's Most Wanted

by Georgia Bragg, Kevin O'Malley (Illustrator)

A humorous look at how famous people got caught, including Joan of Arc, Blackbeard, Al Capone, and more! From the award-winning team that brought you How They Croaked and How They Choked .

Outlaw, assassin, art thief, and spy, these fourteen troublemakers and crooks--including Blackbeard the pirate, Typhoid Mary, and gangster Al Capone--have given the good guys a run for their money throughout the ages.

Some were crooked, some were deadly, and some were merely out of line--but they all got Caught! as detailed in this fascinating and funny study of crime, culture, and forensic science.

FEATURING HISTORY'S MOST Joan of Arc, Sir Walter Raleigh, Caravaggio, Blackbeard, John Wilkes Booth, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Mata Hari, Typhoid Mary, Rasputin, Vincenzo Peruggia (Mona Lisa thief), Bernard Kuehn (Pearl Harbor spy), Anna Anderson (Anastasia impersonator), and Al Capone

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Biography, Humor, True Crime, Childrens

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2019

About the author

Georgia Bragg’s father, mother, and brother are all artists, and Georgia is too. She was a printmaker, a painter, and a storyboard artist before becoming a writer. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and two cats.

Reviews

[Max Lovelady · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was cool. If Typhoid Mary would have just washed her hands nothing bad would have happened. There was a Russian leader everyone hated, and he got drunk, ate 6 poisoned cake and a bunch of poisoned drinks, and they had to shoot him because he didn't die of the poison. Jesse James should have just not took off his guns and dusted. Billy the Kid was just dumb. Morale of the story: Don't be stupid. However, there were no records that Blackbeard ever killed anyone. He just scared them into agreeing with them and letting him take their ships.

[John Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich in juicy details and written in a breezy, humorous style that younger teens will like a lot, this book depicts the lives of wanted people. Some have really high name recognition, while others are obscure but had an impact on history. There's a notorious soul in here for every reader and, in addition to the biographical narrative, there are timelines and further facts about each person following their story. At the back are bibliographical and online resources for each person profiled, so anyone profiled who grabs a reader's interest can be further researched in both print and electronic formats. There's also an index. This is a great book for libraries where accurate and unusual historical information for teens is valued.

[K8 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this, but it doesn’t handle issues of mental health and racism well at all. It could have done this and still kept the overall jocular tone, but instead it either ignored situations or, as in the section on Jesse James, attributes his involvement in racist activities to his mother’s influence rather than as his own actions.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read with lots of very interesting facts. I learned about several new and notorious people, as well as some new facts about the infamous that I already knew about. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.

[Read Ribbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The creative team of Bragg and O'Malley were responsible for Croaked and Choked two of my favorite nonfiction anthologies for intermediate and young adults. Caught! is their third book. This time they look at 13 famous individuals and how they were caught for deeds they did or were assumed they did. Beginning with Joan of Arc and ending with Al Capone, it spans history as it tells the tails of people who readers will know as well as some lesser known individuals. The narrative descriptions of their lives are written with humor and just a little gruesomeness to make the book popular with young adults. Each profile is followed by interesting facts about the individuals and crime solving techniques. It would be a great book to jigsaw giving different readers or groups different profiles. Lots of vocabulary defined. Additional resources identified.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caught! Nabbing History’s Most Wanted by Georgia Bragg, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley, 216 pages. NON-FICTION Crown Books for Young Readers (Penguin), 2019. $19

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Fourteen different historical figures are compiled in this book because at some point in their illustrious career they were caught by the authorities. Whether they were guilty or not depends on the person, but their exciting story and outcome are covered as separate chapters. The following people are included: Joan of Arc, Sir Walter Raleigh, Carvaggio, Blackbeard, John Wilkes Booth, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Mata Hari, Typhoid Mary, Rasputin, Vincenzo Peruggia (he stole the Mono Lisa), Bernard Otto Kuehn (WWII spy) and Al Capone.

I enjoyed reading the summaries of well-known criminals and at the end of every chapter there are interesting statistics that read like a Genius World Record fact page. I was shocked and wowed by a lot of the stories that I didn’t know. The illustrations are cartoonish and add to the story, but sometimes the snarky tone of the narrator was off-putting. The content does include a beheading, shooting, burned at the stake and killing horses. Mata Hari’s story has abuse and refers to her being molested and that biography felt more hostile than the others.

Reviewer, C. Peterson
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...

[Kyla Alvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun read, very well written, informative, honest, also loved how it had definitions at the end of every chapter, makes it nice to have that handy when reading to children!

[Madeline Swartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caught! is one of many books you can find by the wonderful Georgia Bragg. Published by Crown Books in New York, New York in 2019, we are given access to the hidden lives of the most wanted criminals throughout history. From my perspective, this book is very interesting but seems to be written in a loose, nonchalant, format. We are given the details of some of the most infamous individuals in history and the author seems to add in their own style to the story, adding in false quotes and butting in with personal opinions. It may be that the book could be for younger audiences, but the morbid detail elaborated in the writing leads me to believe that it is made for more mature readers.
This piece is non-fiction, which means that the author presents the contents of the book in factual way, but I would have preferred if there were more pep and interest in the subject. This book is a great source of information and truly is interesting if you love history, but those of you who read this book looking for entertainment, beware. The author is repetitive and tries to ‘spice up’ the writing with dull humor and dry puns but the reader is left sighing in distaste. The whole book is set up in a way similar to her other publications, individual mini- biographies with stats and facts at the end of each. Caught! is about the most famous people in history, how they got caught or arrested, and what they did to get to that point. I personally loved the stories and to learn all about individuals such as Joan of Arc, Black Beard, and Rasputin. The author ruins this non-fiction genre of writing with dumbed-down variations of quotes instead of providing actual quotes, for example, when reading about Joan of Arc she receives a letter from King Charles, the author decides to use this instead of her real letter, “Hey, thanks for everything; I’ve made your family nobility; please go home now..” (Bragg 12) . You should use real information and facts when writing non-fiction. Right? Nevertheless I would say, if you were to look past these inconveniences, you would very much enjoy the contents of this work.
To reiterate, the book is informative and interesting to many a young historian, I just believe we could have gone without little side comments and bad puns the “narrator” provides us. If I were to rate it on a scale from one to five based solely on the informative nature of the book, it would be a solid four and a half, the authors opinions mentioned many times throughout the text on the other hand, tempt me to drop the score to about a three. Overall, if you have the power to look past the authors view in the book, you will be in for a real treat!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as much fun as How They Croaked and How They Choked by this same creative team, this title gives background about 14 notorious individuals, some considered criminals and others just born at the wrong time. I loved the gossipy quality of the writing and how the author provides tidbits about each one's formative years and their so-called dastardly crimes but mostly focuses on how they were caught and brought to justice, even if that sometimes meant being shot or imprisoned on an island. Starting with Joan of Arc and concluding with Al Capone, the book also tells the little-known stories of Vincenzo Peruggia, who stole the Mona Lisa and Bernard Otto Kuehn, who was a spy who passed on secrets to the Japanese about the Pearl Harbor military base. In addition to black and white drawings of each individual, readers are treated to additional information through a "Facts and Stats" section with quotes, even sometimes a list of the contents of their pockets. There is also a section devoted to pertinent vocabulary for each individual. Even the most reluctant of readers will find something of interest in this book since it covers a wide cast of villains, some of whom were arguably miscast. The text makes history humorous, and most readers will want to learn even more about each of these individuals.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not the worst book I have ever read, but I found it to be frustrating and a little boring for the intended audience. I read it with my 11 year old son, and he was completely annoyed. "Caught" is divided into little sections dedicated to various criminals and bad guys (and girls) throughout history, which on the surface sounds kind of interesting. However, the writing seemed to be geared more toward adults, and narrowing your focus to one "bad guy" at a time also means you have to give some historical context, understandable for kids, and really be intentional with your words in order to tell the whole story in just a couple of pages. I found I had to add quite a bit of information to each chapter for my son, as the writer did not seem to have a good handle on what kids of this age group would know and not know. I felt like there were quite a few places with extraneous "fillers" and weird side notes that could have been pared down (such as in the Mata Hari chapter: in regards to the man she would marry, "Captain Rudolf MacLeod did not send a photo because he was grumpy-looking and twice her age. But penniless girls couldn't be picky. Rudolf's uncle had to approve of Margaretha before Rudolf could marry. She's 'young,' the uncle admitted, 'but good-looking.' As a matter of fact, she was darn good-looking. It was a match.") Ugh.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteen outlaws from the annals of history are profiled in this entertaining book. From Joan of Arc in the 15th century, to Anna Anderson (fraudulent heir to the last Russian czar) in the 19th century, what these people have in common is they all eluded the law, until, well, they didn't. Clever, humorous writing, with historical perspective and related facts, make this a fun book to pick up even for short spurts of reading. The profiles, although irreverent, still are packed with interesting tidbits on the life and times of the subjects. My favorite line is about Blackbeard. The author relates that in 1717, King George I of England decided to absolve pirates of their crimes as long as they gave up piracy. But it didn't tempt Blackbeard, because "what could Blackbeard possibly do on land where he could still light his beard on fire?" O'Malley's line art is a fun complement to the text. Includes a bibliography and index.

I had never thought of of Joan of Arc as a criminal, and besides Mata Hari, she is the only woman in the book. Equal rights for women criminals! How about Bonnie Parker?

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caught! Nabbing History's Most Wanted, is a delightful way to learn about famous historical figures and the time periods in which they lived. The book is divided into short chapter that follow a format: quick facts, a narrative of the individual and the times, facts and stats, and words and phrases. The author's style is informal, using phrases that would appeal to young adult readers, such as in this description of Caravaggio, "Artists are people, too, and sometimes they mess up. It's not often that you hear about a great artist who was also a murderer, because if you were to go to a museum, no one would mention it." (p.33). While the style is effective, there are instances where it borders on insensitive, "Joan of Arc is like the kind of friend you can't stand, but when you need her for something important, she's there at the rescue." (p.5).
Subjects include: Joan of Arc, Sir Walter Raleigh, Caravaggio, Blackbeard, John Wilkes Booth, Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Mata Hari, Typhoid Mary, Rasputin, Vincenzo Peruggia, Bernard Otto Kuehn, Anna Anderson, and Al Capone. This is a wonderful book for grades 5-8 and any reader who would enjoy these brief biographies.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fairly light-hearted look at a variety of rascals in history. Having already read Bragg's HOW THEY CROAKED and HOW THEY CHOKED, I knew this would be a fun, but informative read.

I think kids aged 10 to 14 will enjoy it just as much as I did. Here is the list of the 14 Rogues Gallery highlighted in this book:
Joan of Arc,
Sir Walter Raleigh,
Caravaggio (a murderer-artist),
Blackbeard,
John Wilkes Booth,
Jesse James,
Billy the Kid,
Mata Hari,
Typhoid Mary,
Rasputin,
Vincenzo Peruggia (Mona Lisa thief),
Bernard Kuehn (Pearl Harbor spy),
Anna Anderson (Anastasia impersonator), and
Al Capone.

This is a fun way to learn history. Most of these miscreants died young (Billy the Kid at 21; Joan of Arc at 19). Mata Hari and Anastasia were my favorites. Mata Hari did nothing wrong, but was a victim of the "Red Scare." I remember seeing Anna and Jack Manahan interviewed (actually Jack talked, Anna ignored) on television. They were an odd couple that seemed perfectly content to carry the ruse forever -- and they did.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will hit the spot with [articuclar audiences- and is very accessible due to short profiles, contemporary language and reader-friendly humor, arranged on the page with lots of white space, moderate font size, and comic-style line drawings. This may just "'nab" some of those reluctant readers (of either gender) and lead to further readings, both fiction and nonfiction.
Can be accessed one criminal at a time, or as a whole. A full read reveals a variety of patterns that can be discussed and explored regarding this book and also other books involving criminals.
This might even encourage a variety of research, note-taking, and writing activities to learn and share more about these individuals, but also possible other "new" individuals.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgia Bragg's writing was perfect for this book. She wove facts and events from history together to write compelling life sketches complete with clever quips and her own humorous morals and advice. Each chapter features a different criminal and ends with useful and revealing facts and stats. All very accessible and interesting. She also did a good job at navigating the promiscuity of a few of the criminals 😬 to make it more age appropriate. I would personally recommend this for 4th grade and up. My 4th grader read most of it and liked it too.

5 stars for the chapters on Typhoid Mary 💩 and Bernard Otto Kuehn 🕵️‍♂️.

I also enjoyed Kevin O'Malley's light-hearted drawings portraying the sinister, eccentric, and eye-roll inducing characters featured in this wacky and enjoyable book.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is the best at finding the coolest, weirdest (and sometimes grossest) part of a person's life story. In this collection, she chooses subjects who committed a crime and ended up wanted, then focuses on their ultimate capture. It's so interesting to read in detail the most interesting part of an otherwise familiar character's life, like the chapter about Al Capone or John Wilkes Booth. Equally interesting were the people I'd never heard of, but probably should have, like Bernard Otto Kuehn or Caravaggio. The stories are just long enough to provide detail, but not so long that the reader loses interest.

[Abby Johnson]

The humorous and irreverent tone will certainly appeal to particular readers, although I had issues with judgmental language, lack of diversity (every person featured is white European or white American), and lack of sources for quotes attributed to historical figures (some of which are actual quotes and some of which are not). This is a book for fun, not for research, so definitely has its place among high appeal nonfiction. A bibliography is included, but no resources for further reading that is actually aimed at youth audiences.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bragg writes about some of the world's best-known criminals from Al Capone to John Wilkes Booth and some lesser-known criminals like Mona Lisa nabbing art thief Vincenzo Peruggia. Bragg has a breezy and humorous style. When writing about Billy the Kid, the author writes that he killed the sheriff. And the deputy. And when writing about Mary Mallon, she writes of Dr. Soper's investigation of how she infected people with typhoid that he "followed the long and winding fecal trail." Nominated for the 2020-2021 Maine Student Book Award.

[Roger Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would enjoy this as much as my youngest son (9), who couldn't stop talking about it. As one of the first real history books he's read, true-crime makes for an odd genre to get him hooked on non-fiction. Bragg leaves out a lot of context in which these outlaws and baddies lived, and she sugarcoats much of the racism and anti-immigrant sentiments held during many of these folks' times. I can't really recommend it, but I don't think it's entirely without merit either.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some good information in here--the jokey writing style that's designed to appeal to teens wasn't really my thing, but might work for the intended audience. This is written in short chapters each detailing a notorious criminal and how they were caught. It would be a good intro to some history and might inspire further reading on favorite stories.

[Child960801 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true crime book for kids. The book gives the story of 14 famous criminals, telling who they were, what they did, and what happened to them. This reads really well and the illustrations are quite funny. I also liked how there was a facts section at the end of each story with a vocabulary list as well.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun nonfiction account of several infamous "criminals" throughout history and how they were caught. Some were innocent, though, and it makes it that much more interesting to see how things got out of hand before there were checks and balances in place for law enforcement. Suited for middle school on up.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid high-interest read for kids who enjoy or prefer nonfiction. Typically, I enjoy humor in a book for kids, and in some of the stories it played well, but it could rip toward cutesy and too much tongue-in-cheek left me explaining a lot of references or explaining the tone. Great back matter with many sources listed for further study.

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read excerpts from other collections by this pair, and they are always both informative and fun. This volume was no exception, with a collection of criminals, n'er-do-wells, and those unfairly punished. I appreciate the detailed bibliography at the back (as a librarian), and I think the chapters would make great text excerpts for any kind of nonfiction reading lesson.

[Kate Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, easy to read account of some famous criminals. I picked this up because I'm woefully underread in my nonfiction section. I'd heard of all the people except the Pearl Harbor snitch, so that was cool to learn something new. I did NOT like the Typhoid Mary chapter as the author really did her dirty, but other than that, it was a read I'd definitely recommend.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 12 year old and I read this book together. It was a fun read, with lots of interesting historical facts. The author's take is humorous and engaging. However, there were a few times when the humor made light of some serious subject matter (murder, racism, etc.) that my child found rather alarming.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Bragg’s How They Choked. This one was just okay for me. Sometimes the tone felt entirely too light and irreverent. Many of the people featured here were convicted murderers. The tone of the book didn’t match the content. The illustrations remain spectacular though.

[Liz Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story: Spies, art thieves, and pirates--some were excuted and some got away...but at some point, they were all caught! Here are their stories, told by the same author who wrote "How They Croaked". Entertaining historical non-fiction!

The book is non-fiction, so June Cleaver's ratings don't apply. Best for grades 5-up.

Liz's comments: There's not a lot of detail here, but that makes it perfect for the intended audience. The text is snarky and fun to read, and the quirky illustrations add a lot!

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Targets a younger audience, but adds interesting factoids to some of the more famous subjects and must confess I knew nothing of the spy Otto Kuehn (speaking of spies, poor Mata Hari got a raw deal). Written with a great deal of humour, but educational.

[Great Books]

The author of "How They Croaked" is back with another irreverent look at history. This time, discover how criminals (and a few innocents who were railroaded) got caught. Cheeky but with tons of back matter explaining it's all real!

Reviewer 18