Center for Teaching & Learning

The Good Thief is the story of a boy named Ren who lost his parents as an infant and lives in an orphanage.  Ren is a shy boy; he is also missing one of his hands, so he has trouble getting adopted.  But one day Benjamin Nab, a man in his early thirties, arrives to take Ren away with him.  Benjamin steals anything he can get his hands on and breaks every law.  Ren becomes his assistant and has to accompany Benjamin on his dangerous adventures.
I read this long book in less than a week, which is fast for me. The action flew by, and I felt like I was with the main characters and a part of their lives and adventures. Tinti’s description of Ren’s thoughts and feelings made him come to life and feel like a real boy. This helped me get inside his head and stay with him throughout the whole book.
This book was written in third person, which made it easy for me to follow all of the different characters and what they were thinking. The setting was something else I really enjoyed. The Good Thief takes place in the late 1800’s, but it feels like a present-day story because the characters are so full of life.  And the dialogue is great, too.  Every spoken word shows the personality of each unique character. I felt like I was standing right beside each character and I was the one he or she was talking to.
My overall favorite part of this book was the conclusion. The Good Thief has one of the most surprising and powerful endings of any book I’ve ever read.
Without hesitation, I rate this one a 10 out of 10.
Brandon
Publisher:  The Dial Press, 336 pages