Stealing Heaven (Hardcover)

by Elizabeth Scott (Author)
Key Phrases: Edge Island, New York, West Hill

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up—Danielle, 18, has been a thief all her life. Moving from town to town, she and her mom stay around only long enough to canvas the rich and steal their silver. When she was 15, they moved on at Danielle's request, after she had sex for "the first and only time" with her mother's 20-year-old boyfriend. It's a lifestyle the teen is used to, but she's beginning to long for something more. She wants roots, friends, and a place to call home. When they hit the small resort town of Heaven, Danielle knows the routine. Her mom will chat up the men for information and she, now using the name Sydney, is supposed to do the same with her peers. Only something goes wrong, and "Sydney" begins to make friends with the mark, flirt with a local cop, and generally do everything her mom's always told her to avoid. And when it's time for the heist, Danielle is no longer sure she can follow her mom's demands. This story is deceptively touching. Danielle and her mother are both fully developed, as are the secondary characters of Allison (the friend) and Greg (the young cop). The overriding theme of living up to a parent's expectations instead of following your own path is universal, but the twist of a family of thieves gives the story originality.—Heather E. Miller, Homewood Public Library, AL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Eighteen-year-old Danielle—aka Sydney, Rebecca, or whatever alias her mother chooses—has been stealing since she can remember. She and her theft-savvy mother move from town to town, mining the successful men whom her mother attracts for information that allows them to find and rob the toniest homes. Dani has no school, no friends, and no home until she and her mother land in Heaven, a small, wealthy beachfront town where Dani realizes what it is like to have a best friend and also a boyfriend, who just happens to be a cop. Scott tells a surprising story that features a mature teen who longs for the straight and narrow, even as the adults around her profit from crime and corruption. Dani’s first-person narrative includes a few winking references to the lucrative life theft can garner, which feel like odd, misguided shifts from the story’s strongest message that Dani is a brave teen who can and does shape a strong future for herself. Grades 7-10. --Frances Bradburn

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (May 27, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061122807
• ISBN-13: 978-0061122804
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #331,533 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A captivating coming-of-age novel , August 1, 2008

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 13) for Reader Views (7/08)

"My name is Danielle. I'm eighteen. I've been stealing things as long as I can remember."

The three short sentences on the inside of the cover flap draw you into the story like an old friend to an adventure. Danielle's life hasn't ever been normal. She and her mother have moved from town to town for as long as she can remember. But what they do in these towns is what matters. They steal silver, their drug of choice, from mansions and rich houses. Her father did it, before he was caught, her mother does it, and it's what she knows how to do. The question is "Is it what she wants to do?"

Dani doesn't think that the sleepy coastal town of Heaven will be any different from any other place they've hit, but in fact it changes her entire life. She feels at home in the small beach town. Allison Donaldson, a nice, talkative girl, tempts Dani with friendship. Then Dani meets Greg, a cute boy that shows up everywhere, who makes her heart flutter and who, inadvertently, gets her to reveal her real name.

As Dani starts to question her job as a thief, she finds out that the next house they've targeted is the Donaldson's--Allison's house--and that Greg is a cop, who she can never have a relationship with.

"Stealing Heaven" is a captivating coming-of-age novel that everyone who reads it will love. Elizabeth Scott's writing is natural and funny, I seriously want to get my hands on "Perfect You," and any of her other books. She really lets you get into the mind of her main character. Dani's situation is unique and impossible to relate to but you end up doing that anyway. If you want a quick, funny and captivating read, "Stealing Heaven" by Elizabeth Scott is highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Breath of Fresh Air, February 6, 2009

By	Shelly (Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews

This book brought me out of a slump of poorly written books. The writing style of Elizabeth Scott is simple but captivating. The characters in this novel are interesting and the plot line has its own unique little twists.

Dani is a teenager who has grown up living a life of crime, never staying in one place long enough to have a home. In the small beach town of Heaven she starts to make connections with people. Connections that help her see past the stereotypes she's built up for her self to justify the life she lives. In a sweet and wonderful romance plot that has all of the best qualities of first love Dani starts to open herself up for the first time. It's a sweet and wonderful coming of age story.

If your looking for a complex or serious book, I don't recommend this one for you, but if you want to delve into a small adventure and make some new friends who live in the form of the written word, definitely add this one to your list.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Livs Book Reviews, August 15, 2008

By	Liv's Book Reviews (MN, USA) - See all my reviews

I loved this book! I had heard tons of good things about it, and it definitely did not disappoint. I think that Elizabeth Scott's novels just keep getting better and better. I've read all of them so far I think and I've liked all of them a ton so I'm really glad that Stealing Heaven was able to keep up that good-ness streak for me. I really liked how all of the characters were really in depth and relatable. The story put a girl whom we could all think of ourselves as being into a situation that none of us could imagine being in. I think the author portrayed the most normal and sincere teen girl in a beautiful way. You could see all the things that she was feeling and going through as she was put into many different situations. I also adored the character of Greg. Seriously though, what's with all of the perfect and utterly unreal guy characters?! It just makes me ache whenever I read about these flawless guys, the likes of which I believe do not exist in the real world. Even though Greg's character was realisticly unattainable, you can't help but love guys like him anyways. I think the thing I liked the best about the book though was the whole flow of the writing. Nothing was rushed and the story moved at a perfect pace. I loved being able to read about the events through Dani's eyes and I think that if the book hadn't been narrated by her it wouldn't have been as good just because she had such a fluid and relatable voice. I think the only teeny thing that bothered me was that in the end, the issue that Dani and Allison had with each other wasn't wrapped up like I would have liked it to have been. Other than that, Stealing Heaven was perfect; from the beginning sentences to the adorable ending. It's a perfect summer read.