Sunday, April 24, 2016

The Prairie Thief - A Book Review

I thought this book was going to be a mystery.  It was a bit more than I thought.

When the story begins, we meet Louisa, a young girl caught in the middle of a fearful time. Her Pa had just been arrested for stealing, and the case against him seems solid. Louisa's mother had died when she was younger, and the only ones that were around to take care of Louisa were the very family that had accused her father of being a thief, the Smirches. 

We quickly learn that more is going on than a typical mystery could hold. If Pa is innocent, then who stole the Smirches things and placed them in a dugout on Pa and Louisa's land? How will Louisa deal with Mrs. Smirch, a nasty lady with a mean temperament that believes Louisa's Pa is guilty?  Will Louisa make friends with little Jessamine, the Smirch's orphan niece that has come to live there?  And what is Jessamine talking about when she says she has seen a little creature in a pointy hat?

From mystery to fantasy to adventure, Megan and I loved The Prairie Thief.  Even once we knew who was the thief, the story never lost an edge.  It kept us going to the last page. We could picture the events, laughing one moment, and having a sense of awe the next as our imaginations pictured the scenes.  Could a girl ride a pronghorn?  Sleep with a wolfpack? Find and fit into a small home under the ground? 

When I made a definite shift into focusing on filling our lives with literature, I knew I would be diving into different types of books.  Fantasy is a somewhat newer genre for me.  However, after reading all five Borrowers books, the Robert Lawson books, and now The Prairie Thief, we are finding reading fantasy is awesome!  We are anxious to delve into more very soon. 

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