Stolen as children from their villages, young Diggers slave to find ‘shards’ in the sands for the Spears who guard them, men in metal helmet-masks who let the sea tides capture the weak or the slow. The Grassland is scoured nightly by the cold fury of the sea while the Diggers sleep uneasy above it, in the cave-prisons of the mountain cliffs that prevent their escape.
Coriko works and sleeps alongside Pippa, the only other Digger who knows his village language. Pippa can remember trees and her mother; Coriko has no memories beyond this endless drudgery of sift, dig, tote. They pledge to stay together, somehow, through the great Separation when the older Diggers are taken from Grassland…somehow.
New Diggers arrive frequently, since not many survive the First Cleansing of the highest tide. This time, two newcomers speak the language of Pippa and Coriko! Tia and Bran think only of escape… but who can escape the Spears or the prison of the Grassland?
When strange ships appear on the horizon, the Spears cut the Diggers’ food ration, demand more shards, and watch the sea anxiously.Could Tia and Bran be more than dreamers? Can the Diggers escape from Grassland?
This fast-moving, action-packed book is first in The Grassland Trilogy – be sure you can get your hands on Book Two: Beneath the Mask! You’ll be hungry to find out what happens next!!
Recommended by: Katy Manck, Librarian-at-Large (retired academic/corporate/school librarian), Gilmer, Texas, USA
- Science Fiction
- Escape the Mask:The Grassland Trilogy, Book One
Escape the Mask:The Grassland Trilogy, Book One
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Book Information
Reading Level
Reader Personality Type
Author
Publisher
Amulet, 2008
Keywords
- girls
- boys/girls books for girls books for boys
- action/adventure
- beliefs
- cave dwellers
- conflict
- cooperation
- courage
- death and dying
- dystopian
- fiction
- friendship
- growing up
- helping others
- identity
- If You Liked City of Ember
- If You Liked Indiana Jones
- If You Liked Nick of Time
- journeys
- kidnapping
- military
- ocean
- orphans
- part of a series
- relationships
- reluctant reader
- slavery
- struggle
- survival
- teamwork
- war
- weapons
- worrying
- working together
Good for Reluctant Readers?
Part of a Series
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