review of Thief Eyes

Thief Eyes
by Janni Lee Simner
Young Adult Fantasy
Pub date 4/27/2010

I loved this book so much that I read it in one day. I'm always impressed when a book inspires a burning desire to read another book...in this case, it's the Icelandic saga Njal's Saga. Thief Eyes is about a sixteen-year-old girl, Haley, who follows her father to Iceland so she can see the place where her mother disappeared a year previously. There she finds a strange coin that brings her nothing but trouble. Soon she discovers that her mother was caught in an ancient magic--and, by picking up the coin, so is she. Thus begins her journey through Iceland's myths and history.

Haley is accompanied by Ari, an Icelandic boy whose mother works with Haley's father. Together they must navigate a world that they thought was only a legend.

The thing I liked most about this book was the way that Simner made Haley a real person. So many adventure stories show a character transforming instantly into a (sometimes bumbling) hero, but not Haley. She was a completely believable human being from beginning to end, with all the hesitation and confusion that comes with being human. The writing was great, too--and, like I said, it made me want to pick up an Icelandic saga for casual reading. Bravo, Janni Lee Simner.