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A Pickpocket's Tale
by Karen Schwabach
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (2006-10-24)
ISBN: 037583379X
EAN: 9780375833793
Binding/Media: Hardcover - 240 pages
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Release Date: 2006-10-24
SKU: 03096
Condition: New
Comments: Nice copy.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Molly Abraham is a kinchin mort: a ten-year-old thief trying not to starve on the London streets. But everything changes for Molly when she is sentenced to be transported to the American colonies. She becomes an indentured servant to a kind Jewish family in New York City, and Molly has it good. So why is it that all she wants to do is go back to London?
Karen Schwabach uses richly detailed descriptions and authentic period language to bring history to life. She skillfully explores the subjects of Jewish culture in Colonial America and London street culture in this gritty yet heartwarming debut novel.
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Customer Reviews
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Amazing
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-07-11
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
The life of a poor pickpocket girl is not that luxurious. Molly, the pickpocket in this book, is a clever but nice thief in the streets of London, and who finds stealing is the only way to stay alive. But when another thief, Molly's arch enemy, turns her in, she is sent miles and miles away from London into a strange place they call 'New York'. Living with a family clean and well fed, it takes Molly quite a while to fit in. You will laugh, cry, and just scream out in frustration at Molly's story, and will get frightened at the dangers of the streets, or perhaps sigh at the sweetness of Molly finally finding her place.
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I Wanted More
Rating  (3)
Date: 2010-03-26
I wanted to love this one, I really did. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but I hated the ending. Despised it is more like it.
I really like Molly. I like how she adjusts to life in London the only way she knows how, I like how she does have scruples, even if she does steal for her living, and I love that she feels real to me. I think that her confusion and terror upon being sent to America are palpable, but my problem with the book really begins once she's in America.
I find the misunderstandings between Molly and the Bells' to be realistic, but at the same time I just want to shake them all. Of course Molly is going to want to hold on to some of her clothing from her London life! Of course she doesn't know how to sweep! I mean, really! They know she was arrested, yet no one bothers to talk to her about that part of her life. In fact, the Bells don't really want to know anything about her past life, they just want to tell her how to live it from here on out! And while I do understand that, on another level I wanted to see that there really is room for understanding between the differing social classes.
In my head I realize that Schwabach is probably being more historically accurate than I want her to be. I just felt there was room for so much more development in this story! There is room between: Mr.& Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Bell & Molly, Mrs. Bell & Arabella, Arabella & Molly, Molly & David, David & Mr. Bell and the list could go on! I guess my problem is that I just wanted more from these characters. I liked them all, I like the setting, I just wanted more. And the ending! Gasp! I hated where it ended. It was just too unsettling. I knew what was going to happen, but again, it falls back to my repeated mantra in this post: I wanted more.
And so as not to be completely evil in this review, I loved the language in the book. I love how Schwabach uses Flash-cant, tells you she's going to use it before the story even begins, then includes a glossary. It's part of what made me want more!
Notes on the Cover:
The cover is a major part of my intrigue with this title in the first place. I love the gentlemen with Molly peering around as she's lifting the watch. I love that it looks like a scene you would see in London at the time the story is set.
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A Charming Tale for any age!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2009-08-03
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is a charming tale rich in characters and historic content. As an author myself I can honestly say this was a delight to read and reminds me of the social commentaries of such greats as Dickens and Shaw. Ms. Schwabach has brilliantly portrayed the harshness of life for Molly, a young pickpocket in 18th century London. Your heart goes out for what she has endured in her young life, and has you cheering for her when others are determined to give this young girl a new start. Well done!
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'Oliver Twist' for the American female
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-04-05
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I definitely agree with previous reviewers: Karen Schwabach's book is a great read for all ages. I would have liked it as an elementary- or middle-school student, and I'm 33 now and liked it very much! Schwabach is one of those truly impressive historical fiction writers who has done her research thoroughly, but slides the information into the story so naturally that it never feels like you're reading *history*, just a good tale that happens to be set in another time. I could smell, feel, hear, and see the filthy streets of 18th century London and the quaintly pastoral roads of 18th century Manhattan. Young Molly's story of redemption, growing from orphaned pickpocket to respectable family member, is certainly as much fun as, and easier for young readers to tackle than, Oliver Twist's--and girls may especially appreciate the way female characters (both naughty and nice) take center stage.
Being a linguistics fan, I think my favorite feature might have been Schwabach's clever use of Flash-cant, the dialect and vocabulary spoken by the London thieves of the era. It added real color and delight, and for me the glossary at the back was almost as much fun to read as the story itself.
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A Pickpocket's Tale
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-11-26
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
In 1730, ten-year-old Molly is a pickpocket on the London streets who is caught and sentenced to be banished to America. While waiting in prison for the trip to America, two gentlemen come to her cell and tell her that she is a "daughter of Israel" and when she gets to America she will be indentured to a Jewish family. Her mother died of smallpox when she was 7, and she has little memory of her heritage. Upon her arrival to America, the Bell family purchases her as an indentured servant until her 21st birthday. The family is very good to her, even teaching her to read, but Molly is determined to get back to the London she knows. Molly grudgingly learns about compassion, family, and the real meaning of freedom through her contact with an abused African slave. Some characters speak an old London dialect called Flash or Flash-cant, a secret language that thieves invented so they could hide what they are saying. There is a glossary at the end with the definitions of the words used in the book. Children should particularly enjoy this aspect of the book. This is an engaging novel for young readers with historically accurate information about life in London and New York that is presented with all its complexity. It is particularly useful as an excellent introduction to the life of the Jews in New York at that time, and includes a map of New York in the 1730's. This book was the winner of the manuscript award of the Association of Jewish Libraries. Ages 8 - 12. Reviewed by Barbara Silverman
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