Children's Literature - JoAn Watson Martin
Katarina and her thieving family and friends plan a heist of art treasures from museums. But Kat becomes uncomfortable with the life she is leading and makes a drastic change by enrolling herself into Colgan School. Life is definitely different in a school with other teens. She longs to be a normal teen who wears squeaky shoes. Kat is expelled after several illegal incidences occur, which she learns later were instigated by Hale, who set her up for expulsion. On purpose he got her kicked out to assist him in a heist. Her cousin, Gabrielle, helped him by impersonating Kat. Arturo Laccone tells Kat that he is sure her father stole five paintings and he expected her to use her expertise to return them. Her deadline is two weeks away. Kat realizes that Interpol is following her father, who seems to disappear from her life. At the beginning of each chapter, tension builds as the author indicates how many days until the deadline. Uncle Eddie is the nearest family member Kat can find at home. She and Hale ask for his help in clearing her father. His suggestion is she refuse to follow the quest Taccone has set for her. Angus and Hamish come blowing into Uncle Eddie's with their loot from picking pockets. Shades of Dicken's Oliver Twist! From New York to Las Vegas, from Italy, Austria, Poland, London, France Katarina is eternally traveling. The Henley Gallery with its state of the art security presents a challenge. Taccone finds it rare to find someone who is both so young and so wise, both so fresh and so jaded. The author offers many sad true facts in this fictional story. During the Second World War, the Nazis plundered family treasures across all of Europe. Historians, activists, and survivors work tireless to this day to right those terrible wrongs. Reviewer: JoAn Watson Martin
Melanie Hundley
Katarina Bishop, born into a family of art thieves, wants to have a normal life, so she forges the documents necessary to get into a prestigious New England boarding school. She can't escape her past, however, and soon finds herself leading a team of young thieves. In this one caper, she will attempt to prove her father's innocence, return the property of a dangerous billionaire, and pull off the world's most impossible art theft. Katarina has been a part of some pretty intense family scams; however, pulling off this one will take all of her considerable talents. Betrayals, art history, and European cities provide a lush backdrop for this tale of family and thievery. Katarina worries about her father, deals with family members and family history, and juggles relationships with boys—all while planning complex heists. From the author of the Gallagher Girls series, this exciting story is a winner. Reviewer: Melanie Hundley
VOYA - Nicole Drago
As enthralling as her last book, Heist Society will keep you turning the page until the end. The book is witty and comical, and you are rooting for Kat throughout the adventure. It shows the problems of growing up, family, and true friendship. It also gives insight on what happened to priceless paintings during World War II. I would recommend this book to girls who are interested in mysteries and realistic fiction. Reviewer: Nicole Drago, Teen Reviewer
VOYA - Ed Goldberg
Kat Bishop wants to give up her life of crime, which began at age five when she assisted her father in a heist. She gets herself admitted to the exclusive Colgan School seeking anonymity only to get framed for hoisting the headmaster's 1958 vintage Porche on top of the fountain in the quad. Few people could pull off such a stunt, but fifteen-year-old Hale—also a thief—is one. When Kat is expelled from Colgan, Hale meets her in a long, black limousine with a proposition for her. She must steal back some paintings that her father allegedly lifted from gangster Arturo Taccone if she wants her father to remain among the living. Kat flies from New York to Paris to confront her father who has a steadfast alibi—he was in the midst of another heist at the time. Taccone refuses to believe this defense, however, so Kat recruits five teenagers amongst family and friends to pull the bravest heist ever. If one can suspend belief, this novel is enjoyable. The characters are funny, and the action is nonstop. The fifteen-year-old protagonists will appeal to teens—the light-fingered team hops planes like adults drive cars. Kat's teen angst about her looks when comparing herself to her peer jet-setting cousin Gabrielle and her feelings for Hale come through loud and clear. Although the protagonists are male and female, this novel will primarily draw in girls, as do Carter's other books. It will have a ready readership. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg
School Library Journal
Gr 7–10—Fifteen-year-old Katerina (Kat) Bishop is not your average world-class traveler. She's been to the Louvre (to case it at age 3) and to Austria (to steal crown jewels at age 7), and she owns a Fabergé egg. The Bishop family business, which specializes in the "distribution" of fine arts, allowed Kat to grow up all over Europe, learning from an early age that a picture is worth, quite literally, more than a thousand words. However, she also learned that all that glitters is not diamonds in the life of a thief and decided to pursue a more normal life in a prestigious boarding school. When five priceless paintings are stolen from a mobster living in Italy, Kat discovers that her father is the number one suspect. She returns to the life she tried so hard to leave. She has two weeks to pull off the heist of the century, while learning that "time is the greatest thief of all." Kat assembles a teenage crew, including several cousins and handsome Hale, her former co-conspirator. When they include one more player, an outsider named Nick, they discover that they are part of a "con within a con." With a global cast of characters in Ally Carter's edge-of-your seat novel (Hyperion, 2010), narrator Angela Dawe moves seamlessly between a steely mobster, a British bloke, Scotland Yard detectives, assorted foreign languages, and Kat. This is solo narration at its absolute best. Sprinkled with humor and romance and a mixture of intrigue, espionage, and suspense, this is a must-have audiobook.—Cheryl Preisendorfer, Twinsburg City Schools, OH
