The Good Thieves

Whenever I pick up a Katherine Rundell book I get that tingle of excitement, like a child on Christmas Eve. I’m always torn between diving straight in or holding back as there’s always that feeling of emptiness at finishing the read and then knowing you have to wait for her next offering.Katherine Rundell immediately became one of my favourite authors after I read The Wolf Wilder. Working as a primary school teacher, I often hear, "I don't know what to read." For KS2 children, I will often point them in the direction of a Katherine Rundell book - Rooftoppers and The Wolf Wilder being my two favourites...that is until now.Her most recent book, The Good Thieves, does not disappoint - it is middle-grade, adventure story-telling at its very best. A romp of an adventure about a ragtag quartet who set out to right a wrong. From the gritty streets of New York to the relic of Hudson Castle, the settings are described vividly and are brought to life by Rundell's rich use of vocabulary and her seamless construction of prose that are woven together so expertly. I loved the wonderfully eclectic mix of colourful characters; the villainous gangster, the pick-pocket, the wanna-be circus stars. The story is told through the eyes of main character Vita. She is a tough and determined girl who is very set on making things rights. Vita lives her life by the line from the first page of the book, "But it is not always sensible to be sensible."This book has everything for me - I love a good heist and this has book has this and so much more.I write this review at a time of strict government quarantining around the world. If we have to be in quarantine, being quarantined inside Rundell’s imagination is a fine place to be.

I bought this book on the recommendation from a Facebook forum called Reading for Pleasure in Schools, I'm a very keen and avid reader of children's literature and this certainly had me gripped from the start. For anyone whom is wanting a book to read and not to put it down, this is the one for you!I've never read any of Katherine Rundell's books before but after reading this in just a few evenings I've ordered the Explorer and cannot wait to see what adventures it offers!You'll meet some formidable characters in this book; that of grit, determination and above all else selfless acts of kindness, the main character Vita, well is all of these and she doesn't disappoint to keep her fellow friends going through this adventure.I LOVED IT!

I have bought three copies of this book so far. The first was for myself, because I love reading children’s books. I thought this was spectacular. So I bought a copy for my 10 year old great-niece for her birthday, but I’ve no idea if she liked it as I didn’t get a thank you 🙄.I brought my copy to read as a chapter book to my grandson, when I had the pleasure to look after him for a fortnight. We read one , two or three chapters every night and it lasted 14 days. We both loved it. Some of the words are very difficult (think my husband would have struggled 🤣) but Alfie still understood it and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I loved doing all the different accents. I bought my third copy for him, so that he can keep it and read it to himself one day. Either way, we made memories I don’t think either of us will forget.

Good purchase

My 10 year old Loves this book! He read it super fast & passed it to two of his friends who also read it at lightning speed! All three kids (2 boys & 1 girl) couldn’t stop raving about it! I may get the audible version when it comes out, because my 5 year old has heard so much about it that he wants to hear the book too!