Escape from the USS Indianapolis

Marino, Andy. Escape from the USS Indianapolis
Expected publication September 16, 2025
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Albie Whitman has been visiting his brother Joe, who is stationed with the Navy in Guam, and has been placed with a caretaker program there, since both of their parents were killed in a car accident near their home in Oklahoma. In July of 1945, he makes the fateful decision to sneak about the USS Indianapolis to be with Joe, thinking he will be allowed to stay and help out. He is quickly found out, and just as he and Joe are reunited, the ship is hit by a kamikaze torpedo. The two eventually find each other in the oil slicked water. They are fortunate enough to have found a wooden crate and a water jug, so have some assistance in floating, and even come across a tin of tomato sauce that sustains them for a while. For a long time, they are alone. Having seen the ship go down, the know that many men are dead, but eventually come across a large number of survivors floating together. These include Father Conway, who is wearing a large number of dog tags to report the deceased, and Dr. Haynes, who is administering to the wounded to the best of his abilities. They join forces with three men from the ship, DeVito, Callahan, and Benny, and vow to take care of each other. There are many dangers, including more underwater attacks, sharks, jellyfish, and the debilitating effects of sun exposure and dehydration. Joe warns Albie not to drink the sea water, even though it's tempting. By the third day, Albie wonders why no one has come to their rescue, since his bother, a communications officer, had sent a message before they got off the ship. Joe is hallucinating, and fearful that Benny will throw his brother overboard, Albie goes in search of water. He gets some from Dr. Haynes and makes it back to his brother. The two manage to talk about their past and keep each other lucid. Eventually, dye bombs are dropped by US planes, and the rescue gets underway. There are good notes at the end on why it took so long for the crew of USS Indianapolis to be rescued, and some suggested reading. 

Strengths: Both Dr. Haynes and Father Conway were real people who were on the Indianapolis; Haynes survived, but Conway did not, and it was great for them to be immortalized in this book. The message that it's possible to survive by focusing on helping other people is a great one, and seeing the Whitman brother's struggles makes this story more relatable because they are brothers. I don't know why it is so interesting to read about people surviving terrible events, but I know I always have a small group who are interested in stories about the Titanic and other shipwrecks. There are tons of good details about the oil slick, the hallucinations, and the search for items in the water that might help with survival. The fighting that breaks out between the men adds even more elements of danger. Marino mentions Stanton's In Harm's Way that discusses this historical event, which was great, because I had been thinking of Martin's book with the same title that discussed John F. Kennedy and the PTO-109! Pair this also with Olsen's Lost in the Pacific. 
Weaknesses: I'm not sure we could have gotten Albie to Guam without both parents being dead, but I was a little confused about why he was in Guam to begin with. Young readers won't care, but it would have been an even better book from the point of view of a very young serviceman. Now I sort of want to investigate the plight of US civilians in Guam at this time. 
What I really think: Marino's Escape From Alcatraz, Escape from Stalingrad, and Escape from Chernobyl are every bit as good, if not better, than Alan Gratz's similar titles, so I am very confused as to why Scholastic only publishes these in paperback. If you have fans of Lauren Tarshis' I Survived books or WWII stories, you will want to have a case of these on hand at your book fair.