My Brother the Thief

by Marlene Fanta Shyer

Twelve-year-old Carolyn tries to deal with the knowledge that her 16-year-old brother Richard and his shady friend Flim-flam are thieves.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Zeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this along with boxes full of other youth and children books from the yearly local library throw out sale. I can see why they chucked this particular book: it was stained and worn all over from previous readers, and the story context is somewhat dated for young readers today. Before the computer generation! I enjoyed it, as the youth activities resemble my youth; ( they listen to records!) and as for the inner turmoil of the storyteller, a young girl realizing her brother steals stuff, this is well written and not dated. Neither is another line of the story: a reconstituted family, where the older boy has a different but absent father to the one they call dad. Not knowing his biological father is one of the boy's problems. I liked the writing style, the plot and the conclusion of the story. I liked how all characters are fairly believable.