There are 51 million kilometres of service lines and tunnels beneath New York City. That’s only one of many interesting facts in Tunnels!, first in Annick Press’s new True Stories from the Edge series.

Award-winning Vancouver Island author Diane Swanson, who specializes in writing non-fiction, has used a mixture of research skills to put together this collection of 10 tales from the underground. There is enough variety for the most jaded pre-teen here in stories that detail escapes from prison, a hostage taking, a mining disaster, and drug running. The tunnels range from tiny holes only the smallest person could squeeze through to large complexes where hundreds of people lived. Readers will sweat and gasp with the Nova Scotia coal miners trapped for eight and a half days below Springhill and will shiver as they imagine being caught in the horrible inferno of the Mont Blanc tunnel.

But not all the tales are of disaster. One episode describes the discovery of King Tut’s tomb and another an extraordinary bank robbery. Diverse and entertainingly written, the stories are tied together by an introductory chapter on the history of tunnels. They’re also unified by having one thing in common: our fascination with dark, cramped, subterranean spaces.

Each chapter is illustrated with a black-and-white line drawing. Where the tunnels are complex, like those of the Viet Cong in Vietnam, these informative sketches are essential. Swanson has created lively non-fiction that appeals to all young readers and sets a high standard for the rest of the series.