The School for Thieves
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A New York Times bestseller
A young pickpocket gets recruited into an elite group of thieves in this “page-turning, edge-of-the-seat” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) upper middle grade boarding school adventure full of heists, danger, and secret plots perfect for fans of Spy School and Keeper of the Lost Cities.
Tom Morgan’s life on the streets of London consists of shining shoes, picking pockets, and keeping his group of street kids out of the hands of snatchers. When he fails at the last and their home is raided, Tom is the only one not carted off to the workhouse. He’s determined to rescue his friends, but breaking into the workhouse is a nearly impossible task, let alone breaking back out.
Tom is at a loss until he’s approached by a mysterious figure claiming to be an accomplished thief and Tom’s ticket to the best training in the clandestine arts in the world: an elite international boarding school that would teach him all the skills necessary to help his friends. Without any better ideas—and his curiosity piqued—Tom accepts the invitation.
Whisked away to the snowy Alps, Tom enters a thrilling world of intrigue and heists. But the deeper he gets into the Shadow League, the harder it becomes to leave. Tom has to learn fast and uncover the nefarious secrets within the league to have any chance of saving himself, his friends—and maybe even the world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Orphaned 13-year-old Tom Morgan has spent years perfecting the art of thievery. With no knowledge of his parents beyond his mother possibly being from Egypt, he survives by picking strangers' pockets on the streets of London, all the while avoiding snatchers who would lock him up in a workhouse if caught. Things look grim when his friends are captured by snatchers. Then Tom receives the chance of a lifetime after a mysterious man hands him a card that reads, "Wanted: the clever, the cunning, and the fearless. Must be willing to risk death daily. Fortunes available for the most daring and capable." Tom soon finds himself whisked away to Beaufort's School for Deceptive Arts, an elite boarding academy for thieves, where he hopes to learn the skills necessary to save his friends. But as he immerses himself within this new world of sneak and cunning, it becomes clear that there is more to Beaufort's than meets the eye. In his children's debut, Burns (This Is Your Everest, for adults) deploys propulsive pacing and action-packed plotting to spin a page-turning, edge-of-the-seat adventure. Meticulously unraveled secrets and personable characters will have readers clamoring for the next volume of this enthralling series starter. Ages 10–up.
