“Theif!” is an interesting short novel. In it, the protagonist, Lydia, is accused of being a thief. She escapes onto the moor, where she is taken forward in time, into a world ruled by a tyrant. Lydia discovers that it is her brother and her future self who are at the tyrants. This book talks about the unexpected ramifications of actions and how hatred can consume a person. It also covers how peer pressure can be a large factor in life.A theme in the book is how hatred can consume a person until there is nothing left. When Lydia meets her future self, she is a bitter, old lady, who has nothing else in her life except taking revenge on the town, “…we’ll crush them…There is nothing else.”pp185 – 186. With the two Lydias side by side, the reader is able to see the differences in them. The ‘present’ Lydia has begun to forgive those in the town and is softer and more compassionate than the ‘future’ Lydia. This situation emphasises how hate can corrupt a person until they are unidentifiable as the person which they use to be.The actions of the characters in the ‘present’ have unforeseen consequences in the ‘future’. Small, little actions lead to Lydia and her brother becoming the tyrants of the town. Lydia is constantly bullied and harassed for supposedly having stolen a sports cup. This constant bullying and harassment creates resentment which is taken out on the entire town in the ‘future’. This alerts the reader to how small actions can be responsible for unforeseen actions. This book contains an extreme example of this and in the exaggerated scenario, helps to emphasize this point. Another theme in the book is peer pressure. It is not a theme that is a large focus of the text, but it is an extremely important one. The peer pressure to steal the sports cup to be accepted into the group is what kicks off the entire novel. Another example of peer pressure is that the entire student body bullied Lydia when she was framed for having taken the cup. This peer pressure (bullying) is what so filled Lydia with hate that she became one of the tyrants. This is an enjoyable read which engages the reader in topics such as peer pressure, unexpected ramifications of actions and how hatred can consume a person
I first read this over 15 years ago when I was about 12. It was my favourite book back then and when I saw it again on ebay I had to buy it. Lydia Henson has just moved to a new town with her mum, dad and younger brother Daniel. She is trying to fit in with the 'in crowd' but the leader of the group wants Lydia to steal the school's sport trophy, to prove that she is worthy. Lydia thinks about this and even touches the trophy, but comes to her senses and changes her mind. But at school the next day the whole school is called to assembly as the school sports cup as gone missing. And it turns up inside Lydia's locker. Lydia swears she never put it there, but no the whole school thinks she's a thief. Things get even worse when Frankie, best friend of the 'in group' leader Anne, tries to talk to Lydia, but Lydia doesn't want to listen and dismisses her, just then Frankie slips on some ice and get's hit by a passing car. Anne shouts out that she saw Lydia push Frankie and now the whole town is against her. She has newspaper reporters knocking at her door, nuisance telephone calls and her mum and dad's car get's white paint thrown all over it. Lydia decides to run away and ends up on the moors at the edge of town, but there is a storm coming and some strange lights. A moor pony scared by the storm rund straight for Lydia and knocks her out. The next thing Lydia knows is that when she wakes up she as been transported to the future, and it's not good. The town is now run by an evil tyrant. Only Lydia can change the future. A must read for all pre-teens and teens. I LOVED this book when I was 12 and re-reading it again at 30, my opinion of it hasn't changed. 5/5 stars!!
What do You think about Thief! (2004)?
A young girl called Lydia moves to a new town with her family, has to attend a new school and make new friends. she wishes to make friends with a group of girls, however in order for her to join she needs to steal the school cup. Lydia is hesitant at doing this but when the headmaster finds out the cup has been stolen, they do a check in pupils lockers and find the cup in Lydia's locker. She denies taking the cup but no one will believe her except her little brother. She has a rough couple of days in school and decides to run away.on her journey she falls over to find herself in the future. Here she meets her future self and her future brother who own a town. They work together and make life very difficult for the residents that live there. when young Lydia finds out what her future self and brother have done, she decides to return to her time and change the future.Once back in her time Lydia successfully manages to get everyone to believe that she didn't steal the cup, rather someone planted it there. This was an interesting read, and kept me wanting to find out more. it would be a great book for upper Ks2 and can be read independently or as a class book. Given the pressure that Lydia was under to take the cup it could be used to teach children the importance of peer pressure and not to give in. As the book referred to the future, it could be used to get children to do a piece of writing about the future.
—Saadia Munshi
I LOVES THIS BOOK SO MUCH, IT IS BRILLANT. The book it about a girl who just moved to a new town and begins a new school. she gets pressured to steal a trophy to be a part of a group. she gets framed and ends up running away. and goes to the future, where she sees her brother as the master of a town and is horrible to everyone, because of what happened to his sister. i recommend this book to everyone.
—Manuella Ghezzi
This book focuses on the trials and tribulations of Lydia, the main character. She gets unfairly accused of theft, by the school bully and thus begins a series of unfortunate events that seem to incriminate Lydia further. She decides to flee to the moors where she is inexplicably transported to a world in the future which is even more brutal than her current situation. This would be a great book for key stage 2 where it could be used to discuss issues of bullying, loss, fear and also as a template for writing in a sci fi genre for children, especially for guided writing activities
—Jesse Boucher
