The Good Thieves

Local Description

Lucy's Review:

Vita set her jaw, and nodded at New York City in greeting, as a boxer greets an opponent before a fight.

When Vita arrives off the boat in Prohibition-era New York, she is ready to fight; her grandfather has been tricked out of his home by a wealthy con man, Victor Sorrotore. Hudson Castle may be falling to pieces but it's the only home Grandpa has ever known and Vita is not going to just let it be stolen.

She may not be the fastest or strongest kid around - her left leg is shorter and weaker than the other due to childhood polio - but Vita is whip-smart and can throw a knife through the heart of an apple. And she has a plan. A plan that will evolve to include a pickpocket, an animal whisperer and an acrobat. A plan that will see Vita and her new friends racing through sewer tunnels, swinging from chandeliers and rescuing an elephant. A plan that must succeed.

Katherine Rundell, author of Rooftoppers and The Explorer, is back with another cracking story. Her writing is beautiful, the characters and the relationships between them are so full of heart, and the plot fairly races along. A brilliant adventure story for 8-12 year olds.

Description

'Vita set her jaw, and nodded at New York City in greeting, as a boxer greets an opponent before a fight.'

Fresh off the boat from England, Vita Marlowe has a job to do. Her beloved grandfather Jack has been cheated out of his home and possessions by a notorious conman with Mafia connections. Seeing Jack's spirit is broken, Vita is desperate to make him happy again, so she devises a plan to outwit his enemies and recover his home. She finds a young pickpocket, working the streets of the city. And, nearby, two boys with highly unusual skills and secrets of their own are about to be pulled into her lawless, death-defying plan.

Katherine Rundell's fifth novel is a heist as never seen before - the story of a group of children who will do anything to right a wrong.