The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy

The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid Reviews

• 
  emma

  Sometimes, a book just clicks. Right away. No work required: it grabs you from the beginning and absolutely refuses to let go, even when you’re like, Uh, hey, book? I have to go to sleep. It’s three a.m. Or, Excuse me, book? If you could just...I don’t know, chill out for a second? I have places to be and cupcakes to sell and you’re making it impossible for me to put you down thankssomuch.
  
  
  https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...
  
  This book is a monster and did not even PRETEND to listen to me. Repercussions of this book’s asshole-ish-ness include: my tip jar was relatively empty on that particular Saturday, and I had one of the most fun reading experiences of my entire human existence.
  
  It is, honestly, a fair trade. I simply do not have the time to explain that the pink frosting is just vanilla getting in the Valentine’s Day spirit when I could be squeezing in a few more pages of nonstop adventure.
  
  I am now questioning whether the cupcake-selling motif of this review is muddling the point. I work in a cupcake shop? So that’s why I’m being like this.
  
  Anyway.
  
  I should not be surprised at all that I loved this so much. This book follows a band of child pickpockets, living in Marseille, France, in 1961. The cover is beautiful.
  
  (And so are the ILLUSTRATIONS, for God’s sake. As if it weren’t enough for this book to have illustrations generally (as every book should) (yes, double parentheses, because f*ck you), IT IS ILLUSTRATED BY THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THE ART IN THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY. If you don’t know how I feel about The Mysterious Benedict Society, you don’t know me at all. Technically that series makes up 5% of all the five star ratings I’ve ever given in all my life??? So pretty much YOU SHOULD STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW AND GO READ THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY. IMMEDIATELY. You absolute fool.)
  
  Forcing myself to move on: Its cast of characters is completely full-on amazing. I’m talkin’ adolescent vagabonds ranging from identical Senegalese twins to a Southern belle to a cockney girl who can disappear in any crowd to a Russian kid they call The Bear to KID WITH EYEPATCH.
  
  Because on top of everything, the diversity in this book is fairly astounding.
  
  Also, it is FUNNY. And since when are books funny? Like don’t get me wrong, huge book fan over here, but they’re not exactly a nonstop barrel of laughs. It’s just hard to laugh when you’re also holding a brick of pages in your hands and reading words off of them? Is this relatable or not?
  
  All of this is to say that this book made me laugh. Against the odds, apparently.
  
  And the WRITING! Oh, man, the writing. The descriptions. The narration. The second-person addresses to the audience! I could straight up write a love letter to the voice of this story. Adding ti to my to-do list now.
  
  But most importantly of all: this book never stops being exciting.
  
  I talk about how much I love middle grade adventure almost as much as I talk about my adoration of well done magical realism, but there’s a goddamn reason for it my guy. Middle grade adventure is what YA could never be: an exciting read with no gross heavy romance to detract, a lot of solid friendships, typically a good sense of humor, and a pretty consistent dose of diversity.
  
  And this book is one of the best examples of that potential for magnificence since its royal highness The Mysterious Benedict Society itself.
  
  ONE OF THE MOST FUN READING EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFETIME.
  
  Bottom line: My new master plan, after conquering the world and forcing everyone to give Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland five stars, is to make all of us start being middle grade book bloggers. Stuff like this is just way too good to miss out on.
  
  
  
  ---------
  CURRENTLY READING UPDATE
  
  truly this book had me at "band of child pickpockets"
• 
  Munro's Kids

  Here's the thing: when the narration wasn't getting in its own way, I enjoyed this book. There's plenty to like about a tale of a secret society of pickpockets in 1960s Marseille. There's scenes of derring do, there's a satisfying con, there's a jumble of lively characters and there's a setting described in a vivid and sparkling manner. But there's also excess.
  
  Whether or not you thinks the author goes overboard in his lavish descriptions, in his persistent use of pick pocket slang or in his inclusion of quirky details might vary depending on how much you're enjoying yourself, but the real affront is in his narrative interjections. Clumsy, condescending and overlong, they don't appear frequently enough to be an essential part of the story (as say, in the Lemony Snicket books) or frankly, for me to brace myself against their appearance.
  
  As I child I enjoyed the moments in books when an author would address me specifically, and I tried to keep that in mind as I read, but these interjections are entirely in the wrong tone. Instead of being brief moments of intimacy, they are bombastic explanations. An early incident sees the narrator instructing the reader that rather than having French accents comically spelled out, they should imagine these accents themselves. The sequel to this interjection involves the narrator explaining in a "quick aside" (not actually quick) that a conversation between two characters in French will be translated into English for the reader's benefit as they should "not be kept in the dark merely because of [the protagonist's] academic laziness." I emphasize that nearly halfway though a book set in France, the author decided to spend nearly a full page describing the concept of translating French into English in the most eccentric and long winded way possible. He ends this interjection with a self satisfied "you're welcome".
  
  Self indulgence is, I think, the fatal flaw of this book. With a little more restraint it could consistently hit the level of zest and zing that it seems to be aiming for (and, to be fair, often achieves) but unfortunately there isn't a clever turn of phrase, bit of nonsense lingo or stylized scene-setting that the author can resist. The result is a book that keeps interrupting its own narrative flow and a reading experience that is similarly uneven.
  -Angela
• 
  Lewiş

  Okay by far this is the best book I’ve read in a long time (excluding ready player one which I read every month) pickpockets are a very interesting subject and it’s a kids book which surprised me. Colin melody author of wildwood puts together a brilliant imagination with these amazing characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I highly recommend it to anyone in need of a good book.
  -Lewis
• 
  Cameron Chaney

  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid is a middle-grade heist novel by Colin Meloy. It takes place in early 1960s Italy and follows a young boy named Charlie who, lonely of his breezy lifestyle of traveling with his father and never making any real friends, gets wrapped up in the Whiz Mob, a group of child pickpockets. As he grows close to these kids, he learns their tricks and trades, slowly becoming a part of the Whiz… but he begins to question the morality of the Mob’s deeds.
  
  This chunky tome of a book is, simply put, breathtaking. I'd compare it to buying fresh fruit at a supermarket on a sunny day. The descriptions of Italy and other various settings are so detailed that I fell face-first into the narration and didn’t want to come out. It was like being on vacation to a place I’ve always wanted to go. The vintage style of the beautiful illustrations by Carson Ellis only helps aid the wonderful storytelling.
  
  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid reads like a classic children’s book. It doesn’t talk down to its audience, instead favoring a quirky and unique range of words accompanied by a glossary in the back… which I’ll admit, I had to use a few times. But I learned some interesting words along the way, and I’m sure children will too.
  
  The story itself is charming with a lovable cast of characters and many important themes of honesty, friendship, using your wits, and the morality of doing what is right.
  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid is a book I loved through and through. My only concern is that it might be a little too long for most children, but big readers should enjoy digging in.
  
  Overall, 4.5 stars
• 
  Allison ༻hikes the bookwoods༺

  I’m hesitant to call this middle grade fiction as it’s just so long and ripe with overzealous descriptions of the setting and tedious accounts of the pickpocketing taking place. I don’t think it would hold the attention of a middle grader. Also, the constant presence of the slang terms used by kids “on the whiz” was distracting and hard to follow. I kind of liked the story when I wasn’t sidetracked by all the details.
• 
  Fran

  Although it's set in Marseille, France, in 1961, the story is timeless. There were elements that I enjoyed, like the major plot twist half way through that completely blind sided me, and the major character Charlie. However there were several connections that I wasn't able to make, and the title
  
  
  was the initial one. I felt like while the term mob usually has a negative connotation, it didn't fit the misfit band of pickpockets this book focused on. And that disconnect set up so many other aspects of this for me. Oftentimes I often found it too wordy, with descriptions of slight of hands I couldn't follow.
• 
  Elizabeth

  Fun book. Liked the old school 1961 setting. No technology.
• 
  Lynn

  Everything I love in a book!! Beautiful language and vocabulary, great description of settings and characters - Carson Ellis' beautiful illustrations the icing on the cake, and not one but two twists like that completely threw me. This is what good children's literature should be like.
• 
  Lewis

  MERRY. :-\ CHRISTMAS.
  
  
  
  
  
  Here goes to the review of a book I haven't read in 6 months!!
  
  The whiz mob, and the Grenadine kid. Wow. What a title. What wins? a grenade or a mob? Well, probably a grenade because mobs usually travel together, and the grenade would just blow them all up to high heaven!
  But this kid is no grenade. And this mob is no normal mob. NO, they are much more, and that is what I am about to tell you about!
  
  Colin Meloy, author of Wildwood, and AMAZING book writer. IF you have not read WildWood, you need to CATCH up to the times. Well, actually that book is a little old. MAybe 10 years old, but that story is about a little boy being kidnapped by crows from a little red wagon, then he is brought to an evil queen who wants to kill the baby, but in the end the baby's sister saves him and the story is fixed.
  
  But the whiz mob and the grenadine kid has no kidnapping. No, it is a tale of pickpocketing. Kidnapping money... But, money is not human so it wouldn't be kidnapping.
  
  Anyway, the whiz mob is a group of kids All of them are pickpockets. Lead by an evil man.
  
  Now the pickpockets one day are out doing their thing, taking, stealing, living the life when one of the pickpockets steals from a boy about his age
  
  This boy, notices.... And then the whole story comes to a start...!
  
  The author is an amazing writer. HE writes to appeal to both kids and adults. I read this book as a recommendation from a friend, and it was Insanely good! It was my top book for a while (until I read Ready Player One.)
  
  There's no over-themd topics. NO sex. NO language. Just pure story! And that's what's great about this author. HE can put stealing and kidnapping in his books, and still make them kid friendly, because when he does that he doesn't add raunchy content whereas when Ed Ruggero (author of blame the dead) does it, every paragraph has a mention of sex (most of them)
  
  This is an amazing read.I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it, and how good it is with an average rating of 4.04 stars, it's gotta be good. And it is!!! It really is!
  
  so, if you're looking for a book to read right now. Adult or kid, this book is he way to go. High Quality.
  
  worth $10, at least.
  
  
  Happy reading!
• 
  Shannon A

  Charlie is lucky to be the son of an American diplomat, he gets to visit places all over the world with his father, but he has no friends and he is bored, so bored.
  The only thing he has found to resolve the ennui (Ennui: ahn-wee: A feeling of discontent resulting from lack of interest; boredom) is to make up and write stories about all the people he sees in the cafés and shops while his father is working in France.
  Everything changes when he discovered that his extra special engraved fountain pen has been stolen.
• 
  Emily Mitchell

  FANTASTIC. Colin has not disappointed so far. When things took a sharp turn at the halfway point, my heart raced all the way to the finish. Though I won't detract a star for this, I will admit that I can't actually see this as middle grade – I sort of felt the same way about Wildwood – but since A) I am 28 years old and B) sometimes kids are way, way smarter than I give them credit for – I'll let each reader decide for themselves.
• 
  Isa Díaz

  The story would have been 10x more interesting if the narration and sheer amount of slang hadn’t made it practically unreadable
• 
  Tonya

  4.5 stars (why don’t they give us the 1/2 star option already?!).
  
  I really had fun with this one! It’s listed as middle grade and I think it would be perfect for young, avid readers. I would have really loved this if I read it as a kid and I’ll definitely be recommending it to some miniature readers in my life:)
  
  I loved the writing style of Colin Meloy. He breaks the barrier of narrator and reader by addressing the reader directly a few times; which I found charming. Meloy also allows space for the reader to learn new vocabulary without explicitly explaining each new word, phrase, or term. I hate when an author treats the reader like they’re too stupid to look up a new word in a dictionary. Part of growing as a reader involves some effort, so I appreciated being able to learn some new words and ideas. I think a young reader would be flush with new vocabulary after this book:)
  
  The main characters were endearing and fun to follow for this 400+ page-turner. It was an adventure, a caper if you will, and I gladly held on to the coattails of The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid for the entire ride!
• 
  Alyssa Nelson

  *I received a free copy of this book from the publisher at ALA Annual 2017. This is an honest review.*
  
  This book is wonderful. I was transported into an entirely different world with the lingo of the whiz mob, and it was fun to watch Charlie, who would normally be a mark for these cons, to become one of the group. While the setting is supposed to be the 1960’s, it is timeless, with its themes of friendship, family, and the ever-present theme of trying to fit in.
  
  The main character, Charlie, is what makes The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid shine. He is headstrong, daring, and ambitious, which endears him to the group of pickpockets he finds himself in. I loved reading about his new adventures and seeing how he tries to juggle the life of being a diplomat’s son and the life of being “on the whiz.” The only steep selling point for this book would be the vocabulary. There’s a list at the end to help, but it might get tiresome to flip the pages back and forth to figure out what people are saying. I think that the story and characters might be able to pull a reluctant reader through that, though.
  
  The writing style is fantastic, with a lot of “breaking of the wall.” The narrator speaks directly to the audience many times, giving it a quirky, snarky sort of feel. My favorite is when he tries to explain how the characters are speaking French but the book is in English, so we need to come to an understanding. I think a lot of readers will appreciate it, as it gives a sort of “insider” feel to the story as a whole, and there’s humor to be found in it.
  
  Without trying to give too much away, the twist is absolutely amazing, though I did have my suspicions about it. What makes it outstanding is what comes out of it and how Charlie deals with it. Overall, this is an excellent middle grade book that I would highly recommend.
  
  Also posted on
  Purple People Readers.
• 
  KP

  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy is a wonderful middle-grade story about a high-society boy’s adventure to not only finding himself but learning about true friendship and how it can endure through even the roughest of times; that is, if you can find that bit of wonderfulness hidden among trickery, rich & egotistical chumps, and a band of professional thieves called the Whiz Mob of Marseille.
  
  This book was so enjoyable! The narration provided by author Colin Meloy was hilarious, endearing and informative of the situation it was describing, all the while enhancing the story; although, I do have to point out that at times, I could find it either distracting or just downright annoying—and by “annoying,” I mean that Meloy would place his explanations or beautifully descriptive bits and pieces right when the climax was at its highest! However, as with any good book, a little bit of suspense it definitely warranted, especially in this somewhat dramatic caper.
  
  Alright, enough talk about Mr. Meloy’s brilliant narration of Charlie’s adventure—let’s discuss about Charlie himself. Charlie Fisher Jr., at the beginning of our story, was the shy-but-very-creative son of the American consul, Mr. Charles Fisher Sr. Like a lot of things about this story, Charlie’s character is very stereo-typical—basically, the rich kid who’s unsatisfied with his current life, social or otherwise. Then, he meets Amir, the rough-around-the-edges, living-outside-the-law cannon who, eventually, leads our protagonist on a wild journey of discovery that no one could’ve predicted. I have to admit, I was a bit unimpressed at the beginning with the initial idea of the story, taking into account again its overused profiles for its characters—but what it turned into truly kept me on edge.
  
  Next up is the story itself. Throughout this read, I had a few criticisms—for instance, I was a little skeptical about the release of so much information once Jackie led Charlie to Le Bar des 7 Coins after the struggles he had just went through, trying to translate what exactly Amir was teaching him earlier in the story. Also, I kind of was wondering, after so much secrecy, why just let it spill? I mean, why not just forcibly declare him out? If he reports the Whiz, to the whiskers or else, it’s not like they don’t have a method of escape (wink wink); plus, who’s going to believe this kid’s crazy tale?
  
  Moving on, I thought that the characters were amazing. All of them were their own individuals, with personalities that were all their own—except, of course, Fatour and Sembene, who apparently have to share a face. Speaking of Fatour and Sembene, I must say, I was a little offended at how their twinmanship was presented. I mean, being a twin myself, I can understand a bit of confusion telling the two apart, but in the end, each twin is their own person, and with the Whiz kids having known them for so long, you’d think that they’d be able to tell which was which.
  
  Sorry about that little mini-rant there; but back to the other Whiz cannons. Again, I thought they were all beautifully pre-developed, and although the pre-cut profiles were still there—leader (Jackie), skeptic (Pluto), runt of the litter (Molly the Mouse), etc.—I thought that the author did an excellent job of eventually peeling those pretenses away, revealing unique characteristics that were not in originally in the script.
  
  Now…the moment we’ve all been waiting for…
  
  
  
  The Whiz Mob’s disappearance!
  
  
  
  Honestly, I did not see this event coming; I also did not predict the theft of the Rosenberg Cipher. Seriously…what? My train of thought, during Charlie, Mr. Fisher, and the rest’s meeting with the Queen of Lumiravia, was much like the first’s—that the cannons were excited due to the abundance of precious jewels that royals typically wore in stories like this. But when our protagonist discovered that each and every priceless item was in its place, I was confused, as was Charlie. And then, quite quickly, might I add, he discovers the disappointing truth of it all: the Whiz Mob was after one mark all along—and that mark was Charlie Fisher Junior (and Senior).
  
  Here’s what surprised me: Charlie’s acute sense of the situation. I mean, over the past few months, Charlie has had the mental capacity to learn each kid of the Whiz Mob’s personality so completely that, as soon as his father breaks the new to him about “accepting” the Rosenberg Cipher, he knows exactly what happens. He knows exactlywhere to look, exactly who to call—and that took me by surprise; mainly because, at the beginning of the story, Charlie was this shy, somewhat introverted kid. From the outside, no one would’ve guessed that this scrawny twelve-year-old was not only able to befriend a band of thieves (wow…never thought I’d write those words), but also figure out where their very official School of the Seven Bells was (with a little help), confront their Headmaster (which, by the way, does he ever get a name?), almost succeed at the supposedly hardest test for a cannon in the world, not to mention steal back the one thing that has fueled his fire through all of this work—the Rosenberg Cipher.
  
  But I think, and this is pointed out in the book as well, that the reason Charlie (and Amir) hunted down the School and proved himself a real cannon, was to show those kids that duped him that, although they may have tripped him up once, he’s learned all of their tricks. However fake their initial intentions may have been, Charlie had picked up every little thing that they’d put out; and I think that he’s proved himself, to the point that even the Headmaster can’t escape this class cannon’s clutches.
  
  The last thing I want to cover is Charlie’s risky gamble of trying to pull a sneak job on the Headmaster; especially his plan (and eventual execution) of doing so. I mean…wow! If it were me, I don’t think I’d have ever thought up that brilliant of a plan! The way he used Jackie’s confession of the Headmaster’s knack for zoning in on the poor taker of the Test of Seven Bells really was very intelligent; and replacing it with the man’s distracting crossword puzzle that had appeared earlier in the story was just priceless.
  
  In the end, I thought that this story was just plain great. It has everything: an amazing plot, well-developed characters, adventure, and, of course, an organized group of underaged professional criminals. You know what they say: in with the pinches, out with the pokes.
  
• 
  Almira

  I didn't really finish this - I just got bored with the premise of children in modern day France being pickpockets and getting away with it, and not feeling any remorse of what they were doing.
  
  The writing was very well done, had read the previous series by Colin, which I had enjoyed greatly, so I was really hoping for another great series.
• 
  Acheron

  I felt like if I'd read this younger I would like it more
• 
  sara

  4? 4.5?
  
  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid is a middle grade fiction book involving an upper class kid being introduced to the world of pickpocketing by a group called the Whiz Mob. This book was fun and enjoyable, but also angsty and emotional, taking the readers through Charlie’s journey into this other world and the repercussions of his choices. I found myself wanting to keep reading it and not wanting to stop. It was a hard book to leave. Because of this book, I’ve learned so much about pickpocketing. I leave this book being interested in learning more about it. I really enjoyed this book and want to read more by Colin. It was fascinating information presented to me in the form of an enjoyable and intense story.
  
  Colin Meloy’s writing style was a mixture of pickpocket’s slang, adding in French and other languages, adding in beautiful and vivid descriptions, having sections of self-awareness, creating a perfect use of language that takes me back to the 1960’s. His writing style worked for the story that he wanted to tell, making me feel the characters’ emotions and placing me right where they are, seeing exactly what they are seeing. I loved how it felt like Colin did research in order to depict his characters’ speech in a way that was fitting for the time, especially through how the pickpockets had such a distinct way of speaking, using special slang and terms. I found myself flipping to the glossary in the back in order to better understand what point they were trying to get across. The sections of the book where Colin spoke directly as him to the reader felt like it should’ve been something that was cheesy or cringy, but to me, I thought it was funny, witty, and well-done.
  
  The plot of this book was really fun and interesting. Reading the blurb and being drawn in, I believe that Colin does an excellent job at executing this. Learning about pickpocketing was fun and interesting from not knowing anything about it.
  
  There were times in this book where I was able to guess what the plot-twists were before they were coming, but there were also times where I was blown away by something that I was not expecting at all. The times where I was able to guess what would've happened did not take away from my enjoyment of this book.
  
  Even though this book was fun and entertaining, there are also raw and emotional scenes that had an emotional impact on me. It shocked me. I went into this wanting a fun and light read, being hit with vivid and raw scenes that I was not expecting, but made me better understand the characters and gave a new depth to this story. The author was able to balance this and intersperse these scenes within the novel in a way that made the book feel complete and real.
  
  Charlie was the perfect character for this story. I fell in love with his story and enjoyed getting to know him as well as the other characters. Throughout the novel, Charlie grows and changes as a character. I felt for him. The other characters were decently fleshed out enough. I don’t have anything specific to say about them, but I like how different they were from each other and that they each had a different background story. It would’ve been cool to get to know them more, but I did feel that I was able to get to know them enough.
  
  The art style is so simple, at times, but it can also be complex and highly detailed. I love how the drawings added to the story and made it easier for me to understand things that I might’ve struggled to picture in my mind’s eye (i.e. the different pockets). The drawing of the pockets as well as the map at the beginning of the book made me better understand the context of the novel. I do want to point out that this book could’ve had no drawings and been as effective and entertaining as it was. I do not see any pull in the writing that screams to me that it needs drawings and the drawings did seem random to me for the most part. There were some specific important scenes that were depicted, but most of them seemed mundane or chosen randomly.
  
• 
  Brett Swanson

  I've got to start by saying I was excited to get an ARC from HarperCollins. It's always awesome to get a book that I wanted to read for free, and it gives me a good excuse to move a book up my TBR and take a break from all the other series I'm in the middle of. Upon opening the book, however, I was a little sad. Being an ARC, the book was missing a lot of the illustrated pages. I love Carson Ellis's illustrations. They are a fun addition to Colin Meloy's quirky style. I'll just have to purchase this eventually.
  
  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, like Meloy's other series, The Wildwood Chronicles, is quirky and a little absurd, in good way. Unlike Wildwood, this book is more in the realm of believable, centered on a group of pickpocketing children who study in a school for pickpockets and thieves, and then sent to various cities in groups called whiz mobs to collect for the headmaster. The book mainly takes place in Marseilles, France in the 1960's, and follows Charlie, the son of the American consul in France, as he comes across the city's whiz mom and befriends one of their members. He is immersed in this world and slowly picks up on their ways, participating in a few cons and grabs.
  
  Meloy makes a simple story fun and interesting by incorporating a full vocabulary if whiz mob language, one that Meloy claims is real in that world. He also presents a bunch of crazy scenarios in which Charlie and his new friends get roped into things such as being a jockey in a horse race.
  
  I did have a few problems with the book. The first was that the elusive pickpocketing school, The School of the Seven Bells, is only seen at the end of the book for a few scenes, when the book made it seem like it would play a prominent role, such as Hogwarts does in Harry Potter. These scenes we're great scenes, but I was hoping for more. There were also a few things with the Marseilles whiz mob that felt unresolved. I'm not sure if Meloy is planning a sequel, but if not, that particular point ended kind of unsatisfactorily.
  
  This book is an exciting, quirky read that any age could enjoy. Meloy always knits together a fantastic yarn, whether it's in his novels or his music.
• 
  Alicea

  The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis (the dream team behind The Wildwood Chronicles which I enjoyed so much) purported to be a wild romp through Marseille following the adventures of a group of thieving youths. But this book falls short. I got nearly halfway through the book before calling it quits because there was entirely too much focus on the buzzwords of thievery to the detriment of a smoothly flowing story. For instance, when our main character meets the whiz mob he is inundated with a long list of jargon to denote where on a person there might be loot (not the word they use by the way) as well as all of the complicated terminology for their roles in the group. And they kept bandying these words around and I kept being pulled from the story because I was trying to puzzle out what the heck they were referencing. (By the way, this is a middle grade book which either makes me a very slow-witted adult or the kids these days really have surpassed me with their slang.) So that's one I didn't finish and don't intend to continue. 2/10 because at least there's a few illustrations.
  
• 
  Alec

  Keeping in mind this book was recommended by my 10-year-old son, I quite enjoyed this book. There's are elements of Ocean's Eleven, Robin Hood, and Peter Pan mixed together which give the book a bit of whimsical, juvenile (hall), fun.
  
  The main character, Charlie, is a diplomat's son whose life is a bit lonely and boring. He's got a tutor, a driver (when he needs them), but very few actual friends. This all changes one day when he bumps into a group of street thieves organized into a crew. They're his age, from all over the world, treat him like a peer, and give him an identity. Part way through the book I was worried about the glorification of a life of petty (or larcenous) crime, but like any good moral tale, there's a twist and a life lesson hidden among the plot as it speeds towards its climax.
  
  Solid choice for male, middle grade readers. I even think it'd pique the interest of a reluctant reader.
• 
  Holyn

  (Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2020; middle grade book not set in the US or UK)
  
  This is a fun book for middle grade readers that is set in France and Colombia with characters who hail from various parts of the world. The vocabulary used by the Whiz Mob could be confusing to readers; the glossary in the back helps. The narrator’s asides and interjections into the story tended to slow down the action and bog down character development. While fun, my imagination and attention were not grabbed in the same way that other middle grade books have pulled me in.
• 
  ضحى الحداد

  3.5 Stars
  You really can't go wrong with Middle Grade, no matter who is writing the book you will still get a decent adventure out of it
  So the story is about Charlie who is the son of a diplomat in France in the year 1961, one day he meets Amir a pickpocket "Canon" and then he learns the way of canons and joins the Whiz Mob who are essentially a group of kid thieves and we see the adventures that awaits them
  I liked the writing style it is really funny and it broke the fourth wall and it was entertaining enough for me .. but somehow I felt that Charlie was way older than 12 from the way he thinks to the way he acts .. just saying
• 
  Doni

  I WANTED to like this. I really did. Particularly because the author is the songwriter for the Decemberists. I know he was trying to be funny in a lot of his over-the-top parts, but the writing was overwrought with little redemption. He kept inserting himself as an unnecessary narrator and it got in the way of immersing myself in the plot. There's a twist partway through that threw me and I enjoyed that, and I became more involved to find out how Charlie was going to breach the headquarters of the whiz mob, but the ending, unfortunately, was fairly predictable. I switched from reading to listening to the audio for the last few chapters, and I admit, the audio was quite a bit more fun than me reading it out loud. Too much jargon and French got in the way.
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  Tiah Varner

  Really good storyline and an amazing book. Very well written. I rated it 3 stars cuz it got really slow at some parts and I just kinda skimmed, even at the part where he took the test ( and I know that was probably the biggest part in the book) just that scene took up at least 5 to 8 pages and I was just so drawn out, like the good parts were screeched in to something longer and slower. I just kinda ruined it.
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  Samantha Shoen

  This book was fantastic. Want to visit Marseilles in the 1960’s? Prepare to be pickpocketed by a band of organized child criminals. The writing was beautiful but I’ve been a fan of The Decemberists music for a long time, how fortunate are we that Colin Meloy can, not only sing, but he can write amazing stories.
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  Elizabeth P

  I think only a kid who had a lot of patience and a high vocabulary level would be able to get through this book. The book is pretty slow and doesn't really pick up until the 60 to 65% mark. It does have a good twist, but even with that, I don't think I can rate it more than 2 stars. And I'm not sure that I would recommend this one.
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  Amy

  Clever as always, Colin Meloy weaves a different tale of childhood adventure form the Wildwood books. The bounds of his imagination are limitless and it is always so much fun to be along for the ride.
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  Elisabeth

  This felt like a story your favorite uncle would tell you. You would forgive his occasional rambling and self indulgences that would sometimes distract from the narrative because he created a really fun world, set in a really fun time and in a really fun place. I just wish this particular Uncle Narrator got to the good stuff faster than he did and maybe it wouldn't have taken me almost 3 mos to finish! Middle grade readers who stick it out will be rewarded with an exciting ending -- but sadly "hang in there, I promise it will get better" is not my favorite phrase to use when recommending a book.