theshadowthieves

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Book Reviews and Synopses

The Shadow Thieves

Anne Ursu

Anne Ursu. The Shadow Thieves. Scholastic Inc. Broadway, New York. Copyright 2006.

The Shadow Thieves is a book filled with superstitions and myths. Anne Ursu has people on the edge of their seat, while her intriguing words have them addicted; readers just can’t get enough! In 2007 the book was ranked 8 on a national list of the top 20 horror books; It held the title for nine months!

The Shadow Thieves is a book about Ben Donson whose father left for war when he was two and never returned; He and his mother have been living alone ever since. They’re not the wealthiest but they make it work because his mother, Mary-Sue, is a witch and she takes jobs cursing people.

One day, Ben was in the desert playing under his favorite tree with their cat, Mister; The tree is a diseased curly tree.There is a myth that says if you climb a curly tree you get a lifetime of bad luck. That day Ben decides to climb the tree. While he is up in the tree, the cat runs off. He quickly climbs down and runs after it. After hours of searching he gives up, goes home and tells his mom. She is furious so Ben searches even more. By the time he gets home it’s dawn.

Did Ben run away after his mother screams at him, or did she throw him out, forcing him to forge for himself? No one ever found out where he went. Legend has it that Ben was never seen again, and that you can still hear his mother screaming, “Where’s the cat?”

Readers all over the world are reading The Shadow Thieves. The book seems too end to fast. It is still recommended because of the spooky ending that makes a perfect Halloween story book. Anne leaves readers with a surprised and frightened look on their face. The ending is only the beginning to another book in the series, The Cronus Chronicles.

3 out of 5 stars.

Contributed by M. Stood

September 27th, 2011