The Patron Thief of Bread

The engrossing story is imbued with real suspense and a gorgeous warmth, and it's a particular joy to watch Duck blossom. . . Vivid descriptions and gentle introspection easily transport readers into the teeming medieval world, but at its core, it's an utterly enchanting exploration of family in its many forms.

[M]ore impressive are the ways she [Eagar] not only wields atmospheric language to make both her vaguely medieval, vaguely French setting and the art and craft of bread making vivid, but kneads her protagonist (the two-legged one) into a resilient, responsible soul who can stay true to everyone she loves no matter how difficult or disagreeable. . . Ambitious, absorbing, and, at times, mouthwatering.

A riveting novel full of tension and action; sensory-rich scenes and settings; and vividly portrayed, believable characters. . . There are revelations at the end (one involving the gargoyle narrator), but they're as nuanced as the rest of the novel. Eagar's deep themes never feel tacked on but instead are thoroughly kneaded into her characters and story.

Fished out of a river as a baby by a gang of young pickpockets called the Crowns, eight-year-old Duck has only known an itinerant life of petty larceny governed by strict loyalty to the group's derisive leader, Gnat. In the fictional French town of Odierne, the Crowns settle in the ruins of an unfinished, unnamed cathedral, where Gnat devises a plan to keep them fed: Duck will apprentice to milky-eyed baker Griselde and from this position slip the crew coins and bread. Despite her reluctance to leave the only family she's ever known, Duck agrees to the scheme; working alongside kind Griselde, though, Duck unexpectedly discovers a talent for baking, then settles into her new home, all the while fearing discovery. Alternating with a companionable third-person telling, interval chapters convey the first-person views of a cantankerous gargoyle affixed to the decaying cathedral roof, who laments his inability to protect, as is the "sacred charge" of a gargoyle. Brimming with intriguing medieval-era details, Eagar's (The Bigfoot Files) tale of streets and skies boasts vividly wrought characters (protagonists are cued as white) and a satisfying, carefully paced narrative following one child's gradual transition from street urchin to beloved community member. Ages 10-14. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary. (May)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 3-7--For 90 years, a group of stone gargoyles watched from atop the unfinished cathedral that overlooks Odierne, before a woman, escaping the constables with her baby, jumps from beside their perch into the raging river below. Eight years later, the Crowns, eight children devoted to one another and to survival, arrive in the town and find themselves in the cathedral, a place that hasn't yet been claimed by any other gang, and decide to stay. To do this, they place their youngest member Duck as an apprentice with Odierne's baker, from whom she can skim coins and bread for the family. The plot develops smoothly as Duck faces increasingly difficult choices while learning from her new master in her first permanent home, and while witnessing new dangers for the only family she has ever known. The gargoyles, with one as a narrator, are used as a bookend for the story, providing readers with the cathedral's and Duck's background. As Duck becomes more familiar with breadmaking and reading, she continues to look for a way to take care of her entire family while juggling her own blossoming dreams. Eagar has written a complex and layered novel, with a vivid setting of medieval France and powerful themes of home and community. VERDICT A first purchase for libraries where Adam Gidwitz's The Inquisitor's Tale is popular.--Betsy Fraser

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Spectacular. . . [Eagar] is a master of nuanced characterizations and setting descriptions. Duck's story alternates with chapters that feature a gargoyle's grumpy and poignant commentary, adding a fantastical element and cathedral-high perspective to the street-level action. Duck's heartrending quandary about what makes a home is as relevant today as ever.
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

The plot, borne along by Eagar's flawless, compelling voice, swells like a loaf of bread proofing: slowly, but developing delicious flavor as it grows. . . . the story comes to a hopeful conclusion that is balanced by wry, but not bitter, complexity.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

Each member of the Crowns is given their own destiny. . . They become what they want to become, not what is necessarily a socially acceptable, predictable choice. This sort of closure provides an emotionally realistic ending to the book.
—School Library Connection

The gifted Lindsay Eagar, author of 'Hour of the Bees' and 'Race to the Bottom of the Sea, ' offers a lovely tale of found family, of redemption and forgiveness in this beautifully written novel set in the fictional medieval-era French town of Odierne. . . . Eagar's beautiful narrative paints a vivid picture of life in a medieval-era French town and the Crowns' hard lives on the run.
—The Buffalo News