Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Hero archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
"The final shock of it hit home. The Petches were thieves, and they had stolen him." Tobias is on the run. From the father who betrayed him ... from the mother who couldn't comfort him ... from his own desperate fear. But when he falls into the clutches of his uncle's sinister gang of thieves, his fear grows. And soon Toby realises: his nightmare has only just begun ...
Is City of Thieves appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
A middle grade fantasy about a boy kidnapped by his uncle's gang of thieves after being betrayed by his parents. Contains themes of abandonment, fear, and survival within a criminal underworld, but handled age-appropriately without graphic content.
What to know going in
This book has mild violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include child harm, emotional abuse, and kidnapping (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Readers who love stories about kids surviving dangerous situations and outwitting adults will find Toby's desperate escape from a thieves' gang thrilling.