Lynne Bertrand

City of the Uncommon Thief  is Lynne Bertrand’s first novel. Her previous books, all picture books, include  Granite Baby, a  Booklist  Editors’ Choice, and  One Day, Two Dragons, a  New York Times  Editors' Pick. Lynne's affinity for YA fiction prompted this novel, for as she says, to  be 13, 15, 17 is to be human times 10. "It’s a time of unprotected freedom, death, work, love. A good place for a writer." 

Bertrand started writing  City of the Uncommon Thief  many years ago. The book became an examination of what it would be like to be trapped indoors forever. What if something scared you so much you locked the doors and, for centuries, never unlocked them? What if you didn’t know where you were in place or time?  Bertrand let the city itself manifest the answers: buildings too high, locks too permanent, food and supplies that arrive on ships once a year, work that had to save you, social constructs that kept everyone just sane enough. And then she thought about what teens, and kids, would do in such a city.

In another way, the age-old questions of heroism and the clash of good versus evil in epics and legends inspired  City of the Uncommon Thief.  In a place such as this unnamed city, once you let go and face the things that frighten you, you’re as gone as Odysseus was in his odyssey. You tie yourself to the mast or outsmart the Cyclops in the cave because how else are you going to get home?

City of the Uncommon Thief is the result of the journey into those questions, an epic tale of three teenage roof runners who live in a city lost in time, and struggle to find their own place in that world that needs saving. 

Reviews and Awards

Congratulations to Lynne Bertrand for City of the Uncommon Thief, one of Tor’s “Best Books of 2021,” a BookPage “10 Best Young Adult Books for 2021” and a Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Blue Ribbon”

City of the Uncommon Thief

“Runner Errol Thebes is handsome, heroic, talented, and charismatic; outcast Jamila Foundling is clever, fearless, selfless, and uncanny; bard Odd Thebes is brilliant, lazy, witty, selfish.  A mysterious pair of iron needles draws the three teenagers into a twisty web of magic and intrigue…a macabre marvel of a tale.” —Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review

 “Bertrand dangles revelations around every corner and has twists and turns to spare…City of the  Uncommon Thief  is genre-defying fiction at its finest and Bertrand sticks the landing in a book that knows no fear.” —BookPage , Starred Review

 “Bertrand is wildly ambitious, and she’s masterful in her success…worth every word.”—Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, Starred Review

  “City of the Uncommon Thief  is dizzying and bright, a masterful novel that sits somewhere in the space between Frances Hardinge and Philip Pullman.”—Tor.com