The Talent Thief, by Mike Thayer

I LOVED THIS BOOK . I loved it the first time I read it: unfinished, unedited, and arriving in small bites. It sucked me in and captured my imagination. Finished, polished, and published, I’ve read it again and love it even more.

The Talent Thief is the story of Tiffany Tudwell, an unlucky girl with an unfortunate name, cursed to live in the shadows by her uncanny knack for embarrassing, highly-public mistakes . . . until the day she realizes she can borrow other people’s talents.

Slowly and carefully, Tiffany makes her exit from the shadows, despite Candace Palmer’s best efforts, a girl who lives for stealing the spotlight and making other kids feel insecure. The Talent Thief felt like a heist, hallmark, and heroine story all balled into one satisfying package about confidence, friendship, and self-acceptance.

And it’s funny:

Brady did a double take. “Do that again.“

I had hardly even meant to do the trick. It was so second nature to me that I’d simply done it without thinking. “Do what again? Buy a muffin? I only had two dollars and eighty–”

“I will give you another muffin, if you do that trick again.” Brady looked expectantly from my hand to my eyes. “Consider it like getting paid for a performance.”

“I can’t, actually.” I clicked my tongue.

“Why not?”

“Quarter keeps on disappearing,” I said, acting as if I were going to hand him the quarter, only to have it vanish. It wasn’t just that my moves were smooth. My performance, banter, misdirection were smooth. Maybe it was all part of the magic-act talent.

Brady blinked in amazement. “Please tell me you’re not gonna pull it out of my ear.”

“I can’t do that either,” I said, reaching across the counter to the side of Brady’s head. I pulled my hand back to reveal a handful of muffin crumbs. “Too much muffin crammed in there.”

If you liked The Deep End of Life, you will probably like The Talent Thief. If money’s tight and you can’t afford to buy it, message me, and I’ll let you borrow my copy. Fair warning on that front, though: It already has four “holds” on it. . .