Little Thieves

by Margaret Owen

Overview

"Gorgeous prose, delicious magic." - V.E. Schwab

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection
Kids' Indie Next Pick
Amazon Best Book

A scrappy maid must outsmart both palace nobles and Low Gods in a new YA fantasy by Margaret Owen, author of the Merciful Crow series.

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love—and she’s on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja’s otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back… by stealing Gisele’s life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele’s sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja’s tail, she’ll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of “The Goose Girl” about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250191908
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	21,916
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)
Lexile:	HL810L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Margaret Owen was born and raised at the end of the Oregon Trail and has worked in everything from thrift stores to presidential campaigns. The common thread between every job can be summed up as: lessons were learned. She now spends her days writing and negotiating a long-term hostage situation with her two monstrous cats. She is the author of the Merciful Crow series. In her free time, she enjoys exploring ill-advised travel destinations and raising money for social justice nonprofits through her illustrations. She resides in Seattle, Washington. You can find her on Twitter!

Editorial Reviews

★ 09/20/2021

In this epic fantasy rooted in Germanic myth and culture, Owen (The Faithless Hawk) reimagines “The Goose Girl” as a magic-infused caper—part heist, part adventure, with a slow-burning romance at its heart. Desperate to escape the competing claims of her godmothers, the Low Gods of Death and Fortune, 16-year-old Vanja uses an enchanted pearl necklace to rob the Almandy Empire’s nobility as the Penny Phantom. But when her thefts offend the wrong god, Vanja is cursed to perish by her own greed unless she makes amends for it. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on her imminent marriage to the warmongering Margrave Adalbrecht von Reigenbach—even as insightful Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad arrives to investigate and arrest the Penny Phantom. With nowhere to turn, Vanja must choose her plans and allies carefully, including a feral shape-shifter and the real Princess Gisele, who’s been living in squalor ever since Vanja stole her identity a year ago. Vanja and Emeric prove worthy adversaries who develop a deep connection, while Vanja’s history, which includes trauma, abandonment, and exploitation, makes her a layered heroine in any of her identities. Centering a cued-white cast and variously inclusive secondary characters, Owen’s engaging narrative is at times overloaded with complications, but she nevertheless pulls it together, creating a story to savor that builds toward an emotionally satisfying resolution. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/01/2021

Gr 9 Up—A brash "Goose Girl" retelling from the villain's point of view by way of Sixof Crows. Vanya, the adopted daughter of Death and Fortune, has been impersonating the blonde and beautiful Prinzessin Gisele for the better part of the year. Using the Prinzessin's status to gain access aristocrats and rob them during high society parties, Vanya acquires a reputation as uncatchable and an alter ego: the Penny Phantom. While trying to steal enough gold to escape her divine godmothers, she accidentally crosses the wrong god during one of her burglaries. The Low God Eiswald curses her to slowly turn into the jewels she loves so much unless she can give back everything she stole—which means finding the real Gisele, not getting caught as the Penny Phantom, and getting out of this curse while all the gods are watching. A cast of fully realized characters are colored by Vanya's sharp tongue and criminal proclivities, making her a fun, and occasionally unreliable, narrator. Packed with heists, gods, and monsters, the Germanic worldbuilding is easily accessible and readers will love rooting for Owen's clever antiheroine with ambition. The main cast is white, with diversity in race, gender, and orientation in the supporting characters, including on-the-page queer couples. VERDICT With Six of Crows and The Cruel Prince as readalikes, this will find an audience anywhere there are fantasy fans. Highly recommended and not to be missed.—Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

School Library Journal

★ 2021-08-16
Part heist, part heart-wrenching coming-of-age novel, this is a new take on “The Goose Girl.”

An incorrigible thief, 17-year-old Vanja Schmidt’s biggest theft was her mistress’s life. Displacing Kör-prinzessin Gisele, soon-to-be Markgräfinvon Reigenbach, after arriving in Bóern, Vanja has been masquerading as both Gisele and Greta, the maid, using her newfound access to steal from the elite as the Pfennigeist (Penny Phantom). Sick of being a servant and repeatedly abandoned—first by her mother, then by her adoptive goddess godmothers, Death and Fortune—Vanja’s saving up for her escape from the Blessed Empire of Almandy, hoping to outrun Gisele, her thefts, the law, and the gods. Revenge against abusive aristocrats is a bonus. But the stakes rise, the countdown starts, and tension builds as a goddess curses Vanja, the zealous young investigator Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad arrives, and the predatory margrave Adalbrecht returns from battle to rush Gisele into marriage. Irreverent toward immortals and fiercely independent, Vanja must make alliances, apologies, and amends if she wants to survive. Romantic entanglements and malevolent magic complicate matters further. In this vaguely early modern Germanic setting, Vanja and many characters read as White. Pivoting from her innovative Merciful Crow series to retell an often revisited fairy tale, Owen delivers a cynical, sarcastic, devious, damaged, and self-aware antihero, a climactic crime caper, and a twisty legal-political thriller.

A lush and lively adventure replete with romance, revenge, and robbery. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

The Merciful Crow:

A Tor.com Best of 2019 Pick
A 2020 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Pick

"One of the most exciting, exceptionally crafted fantasy debuts I've ever read. I did not want to leave this world! Absolutely breathtaking." —Claire Legrand, New York Times–bestselling author of Furyborn

"Packed to the teeth with fresh worldbuilding and righteous fury . . . It's a ride that is wildly fun." —Emily A. Duncan, New York Times–bestselling author of Wicked Saints

"A passionate blend of adventure and intrigue wrapped around strong worldbuilding . . . Memorable and filled with diverse characters with fluid sexualities and identities." —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Rich, harrowing, and unafraid to tackle discrimination—perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Tomi Adeyemi." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Elevated by a fresh dialect-tinged voice and creative world-building that calls to mind issues of today." —Booklist

"An excellent next read for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Kristin Cashore, and Moira Young." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher