Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Fugitive
Edward Packard · 1998
50/100
👎 Skip It
Late-series CYOA (#182) with a kidnapping-and-jewel-heist hook that sounds more exciting than the 112 pages deliver. The branching structure works, but this is widely recognized as one of the weaker entries in the franchise — thin plot, minimal character depth, and a premise that may give parents of younger kids pause. Stick to the franchise classics instead.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: kidnapping-premise-may-concern-younger-readers. We still scored it 50; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety72
Substance / usefulness45
Craft & writing55
Originality48
Evidence & accuracy74
Hype vs delivers58
Age-fit55
👁 Human-eye gut-check50
Penny’s verdict50
Cross-pollinate