Some people are born into families of grocers, or carpenters, or restaurateurs. They can be proud to inherit the family business and keep traditions alive. But Katarina was born into a family of thieves. They are the best of the best and they taught her well, but she's not sure she wants to follow in their footsteps. So she pulls one last con: to create an alternate identity for herself to get into a boarding school and lead a normal life. At least, she thought it would be her last. Leaving the family business turns out to be harder than she thought. With her father's life on the line she has to use everything she's learned and then some to pull a heist so bold that only the desperate or the insane would attempt it.

Carter has created a superb heist story full of witty banter, high-tech gizmos, cunning plans, and tense action scenes.  I'd give this to fans of crime capers.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Erica's Picks
5th - 8th Grade
Tags: Adventure, Contemporary Fiction, Crime Caper, 

What with King John demanding higher and higher taxes every day and the Sheriff finding more and more awful ways of gettin' people to pay 'em, times haven't been good. Families are starvin' and innocent people are gettin' themselves thrown in jail or worse. That's where we come in. I reckon there's not a soul in Nottingham whose heart doesn't give a little flutter of hope when it hears the name Robin, excepting the Sheriff's men of course. Everyone 'round here knows about Robin, Little John, Much, and me--Will Scarlet. What they don't know is that I aint really a Will at all. I'm a woman. If they knew the one fightin' with guards and stealin' food and wearing trousers was a woman I doubt they'd be so fond of me. But in dark times like these we all do what we got to do and we all have secrets to hide. Things are changing though. The Sheriff has ordered a special thief-taker in from London, Sir Guy of Gisborne, and if he finds out about me, I'll be done for. I should really run, but how can I turn my back on people who need me? How can I turn my back on Robin? I can feel it in my bones: these are dark times--and they're about to get even darker. 

Scarlet is a wonderful protagonist. The way she narrates the story with slang and sass was entertaining. The basic archetypes from the legends are re-imagined and fleshed out with new, gritty back-stories. There's plenty of adventuring and outwitting of sheriffs to keep the reader turning pages.  Readers looking for a romantic story won't be disappointed either.  It has a little something for everyone.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Erica's Picks
7th - 8th Grade
Tags: Adventure, Historical Fiction, Retellings, Romance