Why am I passionate about this?
Iāve always been drawn to stories that feature mysterious locales and secret objects and strange or magical occurrences, so books with these elementsāparticularly when the main characters in the books are young people learning about themselves and the world around themāare often very satisfying to me. Thereās something naturally engaging, I believe, in tales where someone is thrust into a disorienting situation and has to make sense of the uncertainty he or she faces. The books Iāve written for young readers all tend in this direction, and so Iām always on the hunt for stories along these same lines.
Ben's book list on kids suddenly caught up in mysterious circumstances
Why did Ben love this book?
This humorous, intelligent taleāabout a diplomatās son who befriends a troupe of young pickpockets in early-ā60s Marseillesāis a brisk read by a writer who cares as much about the rhythm of his sentences as he does the arc of his story. Before our hero knows it, heās caught up in a life of excitement that begins to make sense to himāuntil it doesnāt. Full of surprises, including one that walloped this reader as much as it does the main character, this novel navigates a shadowy and unexpected world where young teens talk like seasoned criminals, and friendship itself is a risky proposition.
1 author picked The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.
From the creators of the New York Times bestselling Wildwood Chronicles comes an original, humorous, and fast-paced middle grade novel about a band of child pickpocketsāimagine The Invention of Hugo Cabret meets Oliver Twist.
It is an ordinary Tuesday morning in April when bored, lonely Charlie Fisher witnesses something incredible. Right before his eyes, in a busy square in Marseille, a group of pickpockets pulls off an amazing robbery. As the young bandits appear to melt into the crowd, Charlie realizes with a start that he himself was one of their marks.
Yet Charlie is less alarmed than intrigued. Thisā¦