Rachel Smith - The Thief Lord

The novel The Thief Lord had a bit of getting use to for me, because it's not like the everyday book I would sit down and have to take in all at once. I was actually pretty surprised that we read a book like this because for elementary kids this book seems very complex. I find it hard to imagine that some regular kids can take this story and actually conceptualize it for what is actually happening in the story. One of the main outstanding qualities of children's literature that this story instantly brings to mind is that throughout the entire book, I never knew what was going to happen next, I had my guesses but they were never right! It was refreshing because I couldn't instantly tell what was going to happen in the end of the book after reading the first couple chapters. There were also alot of plot twists that completely boggled my mind at first, especially that fact when we find out that Scipio is really a rich kid that has just been "acting" the part of an orphan as well as their "leader". I was also surprised when Victor ends up helping all of the kids in the end and doesn't give them up because in the very beginning he is only talking to Prosper's aunt who you would think Victor would be loyal to throughout the book because she is an adult when in reality he in turn goes to help Prosper. I really liked that each character in this novel, I could specifically picture because the characterization and the imagery was so well done. I felt like I was really there, and books that include elements like those are the ones that keep me going and actually staying with the book. I liked the different themes The Thief Lord included because it was a really wide range. They went from the themes of friendships to hardships and also to successes. This book was like none other that I've ever read before because of both the subject matter as well as how the story played out in such an intrinsic way. I thoroughly enjoyed it however, I was taken aback by a couple of lines that I personally took a little offensive. In the The Thief Lord they refer to Barbarossa, after he transforms from the marry-go-round as a midget, and then as a dwarf and so I think some people may get the wrong impression that both a midget and a dwarf mean the same thing and in reality they dont. Otherwise, I really liked this book and look forward to discussing it with my classes in the future.