THE THIEF OF WORLDS - Bruce Coville

 Bruce Coville has a new book?!  This is big news!  Why haven't I seen this on CNN or Bloomberg TV (I'm pretty sure I know why it wasn't on Fox)?

Hurricane is a twelve-year-old boy who got his name because he was born during a hurricane. Perhaps it was that birth, but beyond the name, Hurricane has always felt a special connection with the wind.

A global catastrophe strikes and it affects Hurricane deep in his core. The wind has stopped and as a result, temperatures have risen and it is harder to breathe which has people flooding into hospitals.  Hurricane's mother is among them. But what can a twelve-year-old boy do when all the adults have struggled to find an answer? When your name is Hurricane, quite a lot.  He will visit new worlds, make unusual and unique friends, while on a quest to recover a magic horn that might solve the problems.

It's hard to describe how excited I am to read a new Bruce Coville book.  I don't think anyone writes for middle-schoolers (and younger) better than Coville.

One of the aspects that really makes Coville unique is his ability to connect the reader with the characters. Although Hurricane is unique in his name and his connection to the wind, he is also just like every other 12 year old - full of questions and energy.  He is, at the same time, both eager to be needed for a special quest, and afraid of it (afraid of failing or not being up to the challenge).  Walk into any middle school in the country and you'll meet hundreds of 'Hurricanes.' And because he is so easily recognizable, it makes it so much more fun to read about him.

And just as he is accomplished at characters, Coville's story-telling is well above par. Our story is set up nicely and there isn't a lot of preamble trying to create the worlds. We get what we need to know to move forward with the story.

The story moves along swiftly, though we never feel rushed, and young readers especially will enjoy the pace of the book.

Though it's been many years now, I once heard Bruce Coville speak at a Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference where he talked about the idea that books for this age reader 0should have a high CTPP quotient.  That's "Cool Things Per Page." Of course Coville's books always stand up well to this and we start right on the first page with a cool name and back story about being born during a hurricane and we wind up meeting aliens on different worlds.  How cool is that?

Perhaps what I liked most about The Thief of Worlds is the sense that Coville has created a new mythology. This wasn't just an exciting story of magic and fantasy, but a story of gods and legends completely new to us.

This was such a fun, exciting book, it almost made me wish I was twelve again, myself.  But fortunately you don't have to be a middle schooler to enjoy a good story.

Looking for a good book? The Thief of Worlds by Bruce Coville is a high adventure fantasy for young readers that infuses some modern mythology and is sure to keep readers turning pages all the way to the end.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

* * * * * *

The Thief of Worlds

author: Bruce Coville

publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0385392524

hardcover, 288 pages