The Thieves of Ostia

by Caroline Lawrence

Overview

The first in Caroline Lawrence's internationally bestselling Roman Mysteries series, re-issued with a fantastic new cover look.

Flavia Gemina is a natural at solving mysteries. The daughter of a ship's captain living in Ostia, the port of Rome, in AD79, she and her three friends, Jonathan, a Jewish boy (and secretly a Christian); Nubia, an African slave girl; and Lupus, a mute beggar boy, must work together to discover who is beheading the watchdogs that guard people's homes, and why.
A talented storyteller, Caroline Lawrence has created a delightfully readable and accessible series that children will want to read time and time again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781842550205
Publisher:	Hachette Children's
Publication date:	04/01/2002
Series:	Caroline Lawrence's The Roman Mysteries Series , #1
Edition description:	New
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.04(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.62(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

Caroline Lawrence is American. She lives with her husband by the river in London and is active as a speaker in schools and at book festivals. She took part in the British Museum's POMPEII LIVE event, giving talks that were streamed to schools all over the UK, and she is the winner of the 2009 CLASSICS ASSOCIATION PRIZE for 'a significant contribution to the public understanding of Classics'. In addition to the 17 novels in the ROMAN MYSTERIES sequence, Caroline Lawrence has written five spin-off titles, all of which have contributed to total UK sales in excess of 1 million copies.

Visit Caroline's website at www.carolinelawrence.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolineLawrenc.

Editorial Reviews

an interesting and exciting read that is extremely well researched. It is packed with accurate detail of everyday Roman life. The story is so well paced and involving that you don't realise just how much information you are absorbing—SCHOOL LIBRARIAN

immensely readable—TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT

Instantly accessible adventure ... trans-century appeal—THE GUARDIAN

The Thieves of Ostia sets up this wonderful series in fun and exciting way ... I enjoyed learning surprising details of Roman life in the company of four memorable characters. And everyone loves mystery solving!—The List

If you like detective stories, you'll love the first in this exciting mystery series—The Week Junior

From the Publisher

A fast-paced, crackling good mystery is set in "the tenth year of the Emperor Vespasian" and aimed at middle-grade readers. Flavia lives in Ostia, the seaport of Rome, where her father is often away at sea. They have new neighbors: a boy named Jonathan, his sister Miriam, and their father. All of the children are motherless. Flavia shows herself both smart and resourceful right off, tracking the magpie that has made off with her father's signet ring, but needing rescue from feral dogs in the process. That's when she makes the acquaintance of Jonathan. She uses her birthday money to purchase a slave, Nubia, when she sees the girl in chains in the marketplace, and the trio soon adopts Lupus, a wild child who has had his tongue cut out. This lively group takes it upon themselves to find out who has been beheading household dogs, and they fasten upon a man unhinged by the death of his daughter from a rabid dog bite. There are lots of interesting historical bits: Jonathan and Flavia wear the bulla, a charm on a chain that indicates they are freeborn children; Flavia's favorite reading materials are in scrolls; Jonathan's asthma is treated by oil of marjoram. Jonathan's Jewish family are converts to Christianity, and their worship, as well as Flavia's of the Roman gods, are noted in passing. The children use logic, deduction, reasoning, and imagination to solve the crime, and the multicultural cast stretches, but does not shatter, credulity. Sequels are promised, and young mystery-lovers will be eager for the next. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews