The Thief Knot: A Greenglass House Story
By Andrea Beach,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Intrepid tweens hunt down kidnappers in intriguing mystery.
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What's the Story?
In THE THIEF KNOT, Marzana and her best friend Nialla moan about how nothing every happens, even though their town is a haven for outlaws. But when police officers come to ask Marzana's parents for help finding a kidnapped girl, the two friends feel they finally have the opportunity for an adventure that really matters. To find the missing girl, they'll need to assemble a crack team including a magician, an expert lock picker, a codebreaker -- oh yeah, and a ghost. When almost nothing and no one turn out to be what they seem, the kids soon learn that they'll have to unravel mysteries from the past as well as the present if they hope to catch the kidnappers.
Is It Any Good?
This standalone mystery set in the wonderfully oddball Greenglass House world is full of intrigue, puzzlement, colorful characters, and a clever plot that moves along nicely. The Thief Knot brings back old friends that fans of the series will enjoy spending time with again, while at the same time introducing a very interesting new bunch worthy of further exploration. Mystery and adventure lovers who haven't read any of the previous books will have no trouble fully immersing themselves in this refreshing new story. Tweens will easily relate to the characters and root for Marzana as she tries to help solve a crime while battling social anxiety.
The opening is a little slow, spending too much time on complaints about how nothing exciting ever happens when the reader knows good and well that something amazing is going to happen, or else what are all the rest of these pages in the book for? But hang in there until the adventure starts, and you'll be quickly absorbed in an inventively whimsical and slightly off-kilter world. There's not much imagined folklore in this story, which, compared with the other Greenglass books, makes it feel just a bit less rich. But it's a deeply imagined and vividly described world that stands up well on its own.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Marzana's anxiety in The Thief Knot. How does she cope? Does she become a good leader? What are her character strengths and weaknesses?
Have you read any of the other Greenglass House books? How does this one compare? If you haven't read them, would you like to now?
What do Marzana and her friends learn about exploring the unknown while staying safe? How can you be safe and responsible while following your own sense of adventure or curiosity?
Book Details
- Author: Kate Milford
- Illustrator: Jaime Zollars
- Genre: Mystery
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Friendship , Great Girl Role Models , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Clarion Books
- Publication date: January 14, 2020
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 12
- Number of pages: 464
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: February 17, 2020
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