Stealing Jake by Pam Hillman opens on the streets of Chestnut Illinois in November 1874. Livy O’Brien steps in and corrects the situation of a street kid stealing a watch from a gentleman on the boardwalk. A street kid named Luke. Livy is quite knowledgeable in the ways of the street experiencing it first hand before she turned her life around and Mrs. Brooks took her in. Neither Luke nor the man who happens to be Jake Russell the sheriff’s deputy realized she replaced the watch in the blink of an eye. Livy helps Mrs. Brooks at the children’s home and has made it her mission in life to reach out to the street kids and get them off the street. A lot of things are changing in the little town of Chestnut. A Glove Factory opened in some of the older buildings close to the mine. Street kids are running rampant in the little town and burglaries are on the rise.
Luke is an important character in the book. Luke and his brother Mark had found themselves in some trouble in Chicago for stealing. Expecting to go to jail Luke was quite surprised when money exchanged hands and he suddenly was placed in a wooden crate with three other boys and it was nailed shut. The crate along with others were placed on a train headed to Chestnut to the Glove Factory. However when the crates arrived Luke was able to escape from his captors, thus finding him on the streets of Chestnut. Luke made it his mission to find his brother Mark and help the other street kids. Little did he know Livy O’Brien considered him her mission.
Does Luke ever find his brother Mark? Are the kids on the street committing the burglaries? Does Livy ever fess up to Jake that she was known as Light-Fingered Livy O’Brien on the streets of Chicago? Is there a reason the kids started appearing when the Glove Factory opened its doors? Do Livy and Jake ever realize they are both attracted to each other? Find the answers to these questions along with others in the book Stealing Jake.
This was quite an enjoyable book. I love a book where I can feel what the characters are feeling and Pam Hillman did a wonderful job creating this in her story. I did not want to put it down I wanted to continue reading. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a fast moving read. This was my first e-book.
This book was made available to me for free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
until next time... nel
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