Time Snatchers
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A thrilling middle-grade sci-fi
Caleb's blinders are off. The small group of orphans who were also "adopted" by Uncle used to feel like family, but the competition to be the top time snatcher and the punishment for failure has gotten fierce. Time traveling to steal valuable objects can be a thrill, but with bully Frank trying to steal his snatches, his partner Abbie falling for Frank's slimy charms, and Uncle's plans to kidnap innocent kids to grow his business, Caleb starts thinking about getting out. But Uncle's reach extends to any country in any time period, and runaways get the harshest punishment of all.
Caleb can steal just about anything from the past, but can he steal a family for the future?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this exciting first novel from picture-book creator Ungar (Even Higher), 13-year-old Caleb has spent most of his life with Uncle, a cruel Fagin-like thief master who has perfected time travel and sends his child thieves into the past to steal historical treasures. Caleb longs for the stability of a normal life, and aided by his partner, Abbie, and Phoebe, an eccentric humanoid computer program, he sets out to escape from Uncle's control. Making life harder for Caleb is Frank, another time thief who equals Uncle in maliciousness. Ungar keeps his tale moving with frequent jumps into the past, does a good job of portraying a variety of historical time periods, and comes up with some unusual "snatches" for the young thieves (the first photograph, the first Frisbee). The story is built around the adventure of time travel rather than the mechanics of it traditionalists may take issue with the ease with which the characters maneuver through time and the lack of temporal ramifications to the thieves' ransacking of the past. Casual readers, though, should find it plenty entertaining. Ages 10 up.
