One Thing Stolen

by Beth Kephart

Overview

Something is not right with Nadia Cara. While spending a year in Florence, Italy, she's become a thief. She has secrets. And when she tries to speak, the words seem far away. Nadia finds herself trapped by her own obsessions and following the trail of an elusive Italian boy whom only she has seen. Can Nadia be rescued or will she simply lose herself altogether? Set against the backdrop of a glimmering city, One Thing Stolen is an exploration of obsession, art, and a rare neurological disorder. It is also a celebration of language, beauty, imagination, and the salvation of love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452152134
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of books for both adults and young readers, including Going Over and This Is the Story of You. She lives in Devon, Pennsylvania, and teaches creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania.

Editorial Reviews

02/23/2015
Nadia Cara’s family relocates to Florence from Philadelphia so her history professor father can write a book on a 1966 flood that devastated the Italian city. The book project stalls, but more troubling is Nadia’s sudden transformation from academic prodigy to secret-keeping thief. Inexplicably, she begins to lose the ability to speak while simultaneously becoming obsessed with constructing bird nests from random items she steals around town. For the first two-thirds of the novel, Nadia narrates her own story, but it can be difficult to reconcile the inconsistencies in her voice: sometimes, her language is lyrical, at other times, she’s unable to answer a simple question. The last third of the story is told by Nadia’s best friend, Maggie, who arrives from Philadelphia in a desperate effort to help her friend reconnect with the real world. Like Nadia’s faux bird nests, this is a novel with many layers, ambitiously constructed, but the choice to have most of it told by a poetic narrator said to be in the throes of losing her language skills ultimately makes it less than convincing. Ages 13–up Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Kephart's artful novel attests to the power of love and beauty to thrive even in the most devastating of circumstances."-School Library Journal

"Kephart's artful novel attests to the power of love and beauty to thrive even in the most devastating of circumstances."-School Library Journal

"Kephart's artful novel attests to the power of love and beauty to thrive even in the most devastating of circumstances."-School Library Journal

"An atmospheric and highly original story of mental illness, loss, and love."—Amazon.com's Omnivoracious

"An atmospheric and highly original story of mental illness, loss, and love."—Amazon.com's Omnivoracious

"An atmospheric and highly original story of mental illness, loss, and love."—Amazon.com's Omnivoracious

"One Thing Stolen is a masterwork-a nest of beauty and loss, a flood of passion so sweet one can taste it. This is no ordinary book. It fits into no box It is its own box-its own language." —Printz award winner A.S. King

"One Thing Stolen is a masterwork-a nest of beauty and loss, a flood of passion so sweet one can taste it. This is no ordinary book. It fits into no box It is its own box-its own language." —Printz award winner A.S. King

"One Thing Stolen is a masterwork-a nest of beauty and loss, a flood of passion so sweet one can taste it. This is no ordinary book. It fits into no box It is its own box-its own language." —Printz award winner A.S. King

"One Thing Stolen will entrance readers."—Book Page

"One Thing Stolen will entrance readers."—Book Page

"One Thing Stolen will entrance readers."—Book Page

"Lyrical. will appeal to readers who enjoy sophisticated works of fiction."-VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates

"Lyrical. will appeal to readers who enjoy sophisticated works of fiction."-VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates

"Lyrical. will appeal to readers who enjoy sophisticated works of fiction."-VOYA: Voice of Youth Advocates

"Rivetingly captures the destructive effects of mental and physical illness on a likable, sweet-natured teen."—Kirkus Reviews

"Rivetingly captures the destructive effects of mental and physical illness on a likable, sweet-natured teen."—Kirkus Reviews

"Rivetingly captures the destructive effects of mental and physical illness on a likable, sweet-natured teen."—Kirkus Reviews

"An enigmatic, atmospheric, and beautifully written tale."—Booklist, starred review

"An enigmatic, atmospheric, and beautifully written tale."—Booklist, starred review

"An enigmatic, atmospheric, and beautifully written tale."—Booklist, starred review

"Takes readers to the heart of Florence and mental illness."—Shelf Awareness

"Takes readers to the heart of Florence and mental illness."—Shelf Awareness

"Takes readers to the heart of Florence and mental illness."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

03/01/2015
Gr 9 Up—This is an intense and ultimately hopeful look at a debilitating mental disorder and a family in crisis. The setting is Florence, where the Caras, Americans from Philadelphia are residing while the professor researches the 1966 flood that nearly destroyed the storied city. His precocious children should be thriving there, especially his daughter and biggest fan, but 17-year-old Nadia is in deep trouble. She has been isolating herself, slipping out on her own, and stealing random items that she compulsively weaves into elaborate nests. She cannot explain her behavior and seems to be losing her ability to speak altogether. Kephart deftly switches between the girl's past and familiar life at home and the scary, precarious existence she is experiencing in Italy. The real-time narrative consists of short staccato sentences, sensory descriptions, and snippets of actual or imagined visions (a boy, a Vespa, and a fluorescent pink duffle). Nadia's psychic pain and confusion are palpable. Once she hits bottom, her loving, but distracted family members rally round and mobilize to get her the professional help she needs. That her father just happens to know a famous, retired neurologist who can devote herself to Nadia's care is almost too good to be true. She is also able to find just the right doctor to immediately identify Nadia's rare disorder. But this novel is about much more than medicine. Nadia's parents arrange for her best friend from home to join them aboard, and she picks up the narrative at the two two-thirds mark and searches for the elusive boy with whom Nadia is obsessed. The boy, Benedetto, narrates the last section, which leaves readers with a measure of hope for the future. VERDICT Kephart's artful novel attests to the power of love and beauty to thrive even in the most devastating of circumstances.—Luann Toth, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

2015-02-03
Something very bad is happening to 17-year-old Nadia.Ever since her family relocated to Florence for her father's sabbatical, she's been slipping out at night to steal random objects and then weave them into bizarre nest-shaped forms she hides from her family, and she's losing her ability to speak. The first section of the novel is related by Nadia in brief, near-breathless, panicky sentences that effectively capture her increasing disintegration. Switching smoothly between entrancing flashbacks of her promising past—"It was so easy, being me"—and her painful, confusing present, which includes visions of a "fluorescent" boy with a pink duffle, real or imagined, Nadia relates her story in fragments. Her parents, remarkably slow to realize Nadia isn't just having trouble adjusting, finally contact wise, nurturing Katherine, a doctor, for help. The narrative switches to the voice of Maggie, Nadia's beloved friend and soul mate, who joins the family in Italy to help Nadia and to find the duffle boy, whose existence—or not—has become critically important. It is he who narrates the final brief section. With Nadia's jumbled personality slipping away, the change of narrative voice is especially disquieting, offering few guarantees of a happy outcome. Disturbing, sometimes unsettling and ultimately offering a sliver of hope, this effort rivetingly captures the destructive effects of mental and physical illness on a likable, sweet-natured teen. (Fiction. 11-18)

Kirkus Reviews