Thirteen-year-old Scilla has grown up in a workhouse in mid-19th century Britain. She has no memories of her own family and is all alone in the world. Once, and only once, she had a single bite of a ripe peach and it was the greatest thing she ever tasted. Cold and hungry, one night she decides to try and scale the Earl's walled garden in order to steal a peach. She does not succeed and is caught by the head gardener. Thinking that Scilla is a boy, the gruff head gardener offers her the chance to pay for her attempted theft by working as a garden boy, washing out pots and doing other menial garden tasks. With the job comes a safe place to sleep, good food to eat, and a community – all things Scilla has always wanted. Scilla stays – but in order to do so, must keep up the pretense of being a boy. Over the course of the year, Scilla falls in love with gardening, learning as much as she can. She begins to be quite adept at gardening, but Scilla also learns much about responsibility, community, and hard choices.
As someone who loves The Secret Garden - a book that is well over 100 years old, but which continues to charm readers - The Peach Thief evoked the same wonder of watching a child and a garden blossom together.
Age group: Children, 9 and up. And maybe sentimental adults.
