The Patron Thief of Bread

Starred review from March 14, 2022
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.

Starred review from June 1, 2022

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.

July 1, 2022
Eight-year-old Duck, orphaned as an infant, is the youngest member of a gang of urchins called the Crowns, who forage and pickpocket and scam their way through Avilogne (think medieval France) to survive -- barely. In the city of Odierne, the Crowns find temporary shelter in a crumbling, abandoned cathedral watched over by forgotten, brooding, sentient gargoyles, one of whom narrates interspersed chapters. Duck is reluctantly apprenticed to kindly, trusting baker Griselde, who is nearly blind, in order to carry out ruthless gang-leader Gnat's scheme to steal from Griselde on a regular basis. And we're off -- into a riveting novel full of tension and action; sensory-rich scenes and settings; and vividly portrayed, believable characters. As the seasons progress, we experience with Duck her moral dilemmas (taking advantage of the generous but vulnerable Griselde feels wrong); crisis of identity as she is torn between being a loyal apprentice and serving the Crowns; growing attachment not just to Griselde but to the wider community to which she now belongs; a terrible, costly betrayal; and an ultimate rescue. There are revelations at the end (one involving the gargoyle narrator), but they're as nuanced as the rest of the novel. Eagar's themes never feel tacked on but instead are thoroughly kneaded into her characters and story. Martha V. Parravano

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from April 1, 2022
An 8-year-old urchin, "one-fourth street dirt and three-fourths stolen food scraps," finds herself caught up in an agonizing struggle to reconcile conflicting loyalties. The Crowns, a ragged band of waifs, is the only family Duck has ever known--so when its sneering, verbally abusive leader proposes planting her in a bakery as an apprentice to steal food and money, she is eager to prove herself. However, Master Griselde Baker is not only sharp as a tack, but possessed of a heart and capacity for love as outsized as her exceptionally tall and sturdy body. So it isn't long before Duck's walls of fear and silence begin to crack, along with her resolve. In interleaved chapters Eagar lays down another, tragicomic, storyline narrated by a gloomy gargoyle that has been overlooking the town for more than a century from atop an abandoned, partly built cathedral and feeling useless while railing at pesky pigeons and insulting its fellow grotesques. The author does make these lines converge at the end in a (literally) miraculous climax, but more impressive are the ways she 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. The main human cast is White presenting; two supporting characters have brown skin. Ambitious, absorbing, and, at times, mouthwatering. (Historical fantasy. 11-15)

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Starred review from February 15, 2022
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* A grumpy stone gargoyle perches high above the medieval town, fretting about the condition of his unfinished cathedral and desperate for a chance to fulfill his promise to protect those seeking sanctuary. As the gargoyle looks on, waxing poetically and hilariously about his woes, the long-abandoned building becomes a haven for the Crowns, a close-knit gang of children who skillfully thieve their way from town to town. Their leader has a plan to ease their harsh existence, installing the group's youngest, eight-year-old Duck, as the new apprentice in the local bakery, and the quiet girl is tasked with slipping the Crowns a steady supply of sustenance. Duck is eager to prove her worth, but a wrinkle comes in the form of the baker, Griselde. Seemingly oblivious to the con, she is nonetheless an extraordinarily kind and generous presence, and Duck fears that she is developing affection for the baker along with--gulp--scruples. Can Duck learn to navigate her two dear worlds without spoiling them both? The engrossing story is imbued with real suspense and a gorgeous warmth, and it's a particular joy to watch Duck blossom as her relationship with the beloved baker deepens. 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.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
Eight-year-old Duck, orphaned as an infant, is the youngest member of a gang of urchins called the Crowns, who forage and pickpocket and scam their way through Avilogne (think medieval France) to survive -- barely. In the city of Odierne, the Crowns find temporary shelter in a crumbling, abandoned cathedral watched over by forgotten, brooding, sentient gargoyles, one of whom narrates interspersed chapters. Duck is reluctantly apprenticed to kindly, trusting baker Griselde, who is nearly blind, in order to carry out ruthless gang-leader Gnat's scheme to steal from Griselde on a regular basis. And we're off -- into a riveting novel full of tension and action; sensory-rich scenes and settings; and vividly portrayed, believable characters. As the seasons progress, we experience with Duck her moral dilemmas (taking advantage of the generous but vulnerable Griselde feels wrong); crisis of identity as she is torn between being a loyal apprentice and serving the Crowns; growing attachment not just to Griselde but to the wider community to which she now belongs; a terrible, costly betrayal; and an ultimate rescue. There are revelations at the end (one involving the gargoyle narrator), but they're as nuanced as the rest of the novel. Eagar's themes never feel tacked on but instead are thoroughly kneaded into her characters and story.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)