City of Saints and Thieves

Sure to be in the running for this year’s Printz Award, City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson is not to be missed! The book is about Tina who is a refugee from the Congo living in Sangui City, Kenya. She lives semi-alone, semi- with a gang of bandits, where her skill at being “invisible” makes her of great use and ensures her survival. The only thing that Tina cares about is her sister who attends a charity school. Well, her sister and revenge.

When Tina and her mother initially fled the Congo years ago her mother found work as a Maid for a prominent family. When her mother is mysteriously shot and killed Tina fled for her life into the city but she knows it was her Mother’s corrupt employer who killed her. Now four years later and a hardened criminal Tina wants to work her way back into the rich Gray’s family compound to exact her revenge for her mother’s death. But not all is as it seems.

This book is beautiful. As someone who has basically no point of reference as to what life is like in Africa, let alone life for a refugee, this book was intimidating to me at first but the descriptions of Africa are wonderful and Tina’s story reels you in and doesn’t spit you back out. Everything about this novel reads like an adult novel and there are constant twists and turns in the plot (and a little bit of romance which doesn’t hurt). Now that I’ve finished the book I’m going to order and listen to the audio book because the book was that good!