The Talent Thief

Thayer, Mike. The Talent Thief

February 7, 2023 by Feiwel Friends

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Tiffany doesn't have an easy life. Her mother is gone, and her father works long hours at Best Buy to make ends meet, and long hours at the Myers planetarium because it's his passion. He donates his time and a lot of materials for free, but the owner doesn't seem to appreciate it, and threatens to close it down. She also misses her grandmother, who recently passed away. She'd like to make her grandmother proud, but seems to fail at everything she tries. She's on the tech crew for the school play, in which the very mean Candace is starring. Candace has a great singing voice, but constantly belittles those around her. Tiffany just assumes she's cursed, but when she sees two meteors crash right above her, things seem to change. At first, she thinks that it may be coincidental that just when Candace loses the ability to sing, she is able to belt out a tune, but she eventually realizes that she can "steal" someone's talent for a day. The one person she tells is Brady, who thinks that they can turn this newfound skill into an internet sensation, and enter a contest that might help save the planetarium. She also lets her friends at a senior facility in on some of her secret after she mistakenly appropriates her older friend's ability to shuffle cards, leaving him to feel that he's had a stroke or similar episode! Tiffany benefits from Brady's friendship, and his ability to borrow items from people with amusing skills so that she caan absorb them for their videos helps to launch their success. But will it be enough? 

Strengths: Like this author's The Double Life of Danny Day, this is a well developed story with a solid foray into believeable magical realism. Is Tiffany any more cursed than most middle school students? No, but I was more than happy when she gained her magical power and was able to use it to get back a bit at Candace and her cronies and to try and improve her life. The day to day struggles that she and her father face will speak to many children who have parents who depend on them to make dinner and take care of themselves. It was also good to see Tiffany's friends at the retirement facility; in an ideal world, senior care centers would always be built down the street from middle schools so that just this type of generational camraderie could occur. Brady was an unexpected ally who uses his knowledge of social media to good effect. The cover is just the right kind of illustration, with hints of the magical qualities. 
Weaknesses: I wish Candace has been a bit more nuanced. I'd love to see a book where the mean girl is not beautiful and talented! 
What I really think: This reminded me a bit of Snyder's Bigger Than a Breadbox, in that a tween has to make the moral choice between getting good things for herself, but to the detriment of others. Tiffany is worried about her own curse at the beginning of the book, but widens her circle of concern to the larger community, and is able to work through her own problems as she makes progress on helping others, which is a great message. Definitely keeping an eye on Mr. Thayer's work!