The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Summary: A king orders a young thief to carry out a near-impossible heist under threat of death. "In addition to its charismatic hero, this story possesses one of the most valuable treasures of all a twinkling jewel of a surprise ending," said Publisher's Weekly of this 1997 Newbery Honor book.

My Review: I'm not big into high fantasy, but Gen's world was easy enough to fall into. I loved the folklore, so much like Greek and Roman mythos, and each member of the cast was three dimensional and easy to believe. My aversions? First, I had no real grasp of Gen's age. For the most part, all of his characteristics could have been those of a teenager or those of a petulant-acting middle aged man (I could see my husband making the smart remarks!). spoiler alert -- you've been warned! I've read a few books this year that have annoyed me because I've felt lied to through at least a portion of the story. This was one of them. A trick that might work in film (the protagonist's surprise) doesn't always translate well into text -- especially when we have to live with a character for a very long time. spoiler over! I'll definitely be reading the sequels, though!