num_pages: 448
description: A beautifully crafted middle-grade novel spiced with magicand gargoyles!from the acclaimed author of Hour of the Bees and Race to the Bottom of the Sea.Fished from the river as an infant and raised by a roving band of street urchins who call themselves the Crowns eight-year-old Duck keeps her head down and her mouth shut. Its a rollicking life always thieving always on the rununtil the ragtag Crowns infiltrate an abandoned cathedral in the city of Odierne and decide to set down roots. Its all part of the bold new plan hatched by the Crowns fearless leader Gnat: one of their very own will pose as an apprentice to the local baker relieving Master Griselde of bread and coin to fill the bellies and line the pockets of all the Crowns. But no sooner is Duck apprenticed to the kindly Griselde than Ducks allegiances start to blur. Who is she reallya Crown or an apprentice baker? And who does she want to be? Meanwhile high above the streets of Odierne on the roof of the unfinished cathedral an old and ugly gargoyle grows weary of waiting to fulfill his own destinyto watch and protect. Told in alternating viewpoints this exquisite novel evokes a timeless tale of love self-discovery and what it means to be rescued.
language: English
title: The Patron Thief of Bread
publisher: Candlewick Press