AUTHOR: Shirley Lewis
ISBN: 0-9684559-4-8
LIST PRICE: $14.95

Captive is a brief, high-interest, low vocabulary novel from Gary Paulsen's "World of Adventure" series, designed to capture the attention of reluctant readers. The reading level is 5, but the characters are all high school students. This makes the novel attractive to readers from grade 6 and up. The plot follows the adventures of a teenage student, Roman Sanchez, and his classmates who are taken hostage at gunpoint, and transported to a remote location where they are kept for ransom. Gary Paulsen keeps the action moving, but the literary aspects of the novel are secondary to keeping the attention of the reader. This story is best used as a novel study for struggling students who need encouragement to keep reading. The study guide provides information about the author and guides teachers through the study of plot, comprehension, vocabulary development, etc.