The Magic Thief

By: Sarah Prineas Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Copyright: 2008 Genre: Fantasy Summary: Conn, a thief and pickpocket, picks the pocket of a magician one night and eventually becomes that magicians apprentice. He saves the town of Wellmet by solving the mystery of the disappearing magic. Book Talk: How would you feel if you suddenly discovered you had a gift for magic? Connwaer, or Conn, a boy who survives by his talent for picking pockets and picking locks, one night picks the pocket of a wizard. He gets more than he bargains for when he steals the wizards locus magicalus, or magical stone. The wizard is amazed that the stone didnt kill Conn and recognizes that he must have special gifts. This book is about how Conn begins to develop those gifts. The question is: can he learn fast enough to save his city from the evil Underlord? And who will believe him, a former thief and pickpocket? This is a wonderfully suspenseful and magical tale! Authors Biographical Sketch: Sarah Prineas lives in Iowa City with her husband, two children, two cats, and one dog. She has a PhD in English Literature and is really enjoying being a childrens book writer. And she loves dragons! http://www.sarah-prineas.com/ Other Books Written by the Author: Magic Thief: Found Magic Thief: Lost Challenging Words: Note: damn on page 246 desolate, fileh, minions, lurked p 2 gallows p3 glimpse p 5 eluded, monitoring p11 ebbing p12 hulked p 18 acrid p 26 incompetent p 29 pyrotechnic p 31 precipitously p 36 trivet p 61

meager p 68 fortified p 69 ferocious p 73 incantation p 86 imbued, strode p 123 shard p 111 thronging p 120 pudgy - p 131 grimy, tarnished p 143 precedence p 168 liason p 291 salient p 295 truncheon p 310 Discussion Questions: 1. What is an apprentice? What kinds of things would you expect an apprentice to do? 2. Why was Nevery banished from Wellmet? Do you think it was a fair punishment? Why or why not? 3. When the reader first meets Benet he seems forbidding, menacing to Conn, and impatient to be rid of him. In what ways does Benet change by the end of the story? What do you think caused the changes? 4. If you said the embero spell and changed into another creature based on your personality and appearance, like Conn changed into a cat, what do you think you would change into? Why? 5. How did Conn know his locus magicalus was not in the box Brumbee gave him? 6. What would your locus magicalus look like? Draw a picture and explain. 7. Why do you think Conns locus magicalus was such a large jewel? 8. Do you think Conn should have accepted the Duchess offer? Why or why not? 9. Do you think Lady is a real cat? Explain. 10. In the diary entries left by Nevery between the chapters, how can you tell that he really does like Conn?

Suggested Activities: 1. Neverys crest is an hourglass flanked by 2 wings. What would your crest look like? Sketch it and write a paragraph to describe and explain what you have drawn.
English/Language Arts 4.5.5 Use varied word choices to make writing interesting. 4.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person. 5.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as appropriate. 6.5.7 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as necessary.

2. Make a text to text connection. Do any of the characters remind you of characters in other books? Does the plot, conflict, or solution remind you of another story? Does the setting remind you of a setting in another story? Explain, giving supporting evidence from the books. (Suggested texts for comparison: Sandrys Book, by Tamora Pierce or Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, by J.K. Rowling.)
English/Language Arts 4.5.4 Write summaries that contain the main ideas of the reading selection and the most significant details. 4.3.3 Use knowledge of the situation, setting, and a characters traits, motivations, and feelings to determine the causes for that characters actions. 4.5.2 Write responses to literature that: demonstrate an understanding of a literary work. support statements with evidence from the text. 5.5.2 Write responses to literature that: demonstrate an understanding of a literary work. support statements with evidence from the text. develop interpretations that exhibit careful reading and understanding. 6.3.9 Identify the main problem or conflict of the plot and explain how it is resolved.

3. Write a brief letter to a classmate using the Runic alphabet shown in the book.
English/Language Arts 4.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person. 5.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as appropriate. 6.5.7 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as necessary.

4. Draw a picture of yourself after an embero spell turned you into an animal. Write an adventure about what you would do while you were that animal.
Language Arts 4.5.1 Write narratives that: include ideas, observations, or memories of an event or experience. provide a context to allow the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience. use concrete sensory details. 5.5.1 Write narratives that: establish a plot, point of view, setting, and conflict. show, rather than tell, the events of the story. 6.5.1 Write narratives that: establish and develop a plot and setting and present a point of view that is appropriate to the stories. include sensory details and clear language to develop plot and character. use a range of narrative devices, such as dialogue or suspense.

5. Conn looked at magic completely differently from Nevery. Record each instance that Conn was right about a situation and Nevery was right. Create a chart or graph showing the number of correct responses to problems. What percentage of the time was Conn right and Nevery wrong?
Mathematics 4.6.1 Represent data on a number line and in tables, including frequency tables. 5.1.4 Interpret percents as a part of a hundred. Find decimal and percent equivalents for common fractions and explain why they represent the same value. 6.6.6 Understand and represent probabilities as ratios, measures of relative frequency, decimals between 0 and 1, and percentages between 0 and 100 and verify that the probabilities computed are reasonable.

6. The book shows a map of Wellmet with a key and a compass rose. Create a map of a fantasy place from your imagination. Give it a meaningful name, label natural and man-made features, and create a key and a compass rose. Include landforms, cities, natural resources, crops, and climate. Write a paragraph to explain how your map is similar to and different from a map of Indiana, the United States, or another country.
Social Studies 4.3.6 Describe Indianas landforms (lithosphere*), water features (hydrosphere*), and plants and animals (biosphere*). 4.3.4 Map and describe the physical regions of Indiana and identify major natural resources and crop regions. 5.3.3 Name and locate states, regions, major cities and capitals, major rivers and mountain ranges in the United States. 5.3.6 Map and describe the characteristics of climate regions of the United States. 6.3.3 Describe and compare major physical characteristics* of regions in Europe and the Americas. 6.3.5 Give examples and describe the formation of important river deltas, mountains and bodies of water in Europe and the Americas.

English/Language Arts 4.4.4 Use logical organizational structures for providing information in writing, such as chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question. 4.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person. 5.4.11 Use logical organizational structures for providing information in writing, such as chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and stating and supporting a hypothesis with data. 5.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as appropriate. 6.4.4 Use a variety of effective organizational patterns, including comparison and contrast, organization by categories, and arrangement by order of importance or climactic order. 6.5.7 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a specific audience or person, adjusting tone and style as necessary.

Life Skills: Truthfulness Perseverance Resourcefulness Courage Related Internet Sites: http://www.sarah-prineas.com/ http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/kids/gamesandcontests/features/magicthie f/