Grape Thief.  By Kristine L. Franklin. Candlewick Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2003. 290 p.

Recommendation submitted by:
Will Stuivenga, Cooperative Projects Manager, Washington State Library, Tumwater, WA.

This charming tale revolves around Slava Petrovich, growing up in the coal-mining town of Roslyn, Washington in the 1920’s. Slava is nicknamed “Cuss” because he can do just that in 14 languages. Roslyn is a mix of ethnicities, which gives Cuss the opportunity to learn bits and pieces of many languages.

Cuss loves school, and even enjoys his seventh-grade opportunity to learn Latin from the local priest. But he’s definitely no sissy, and the book’s title comes from the fact that every year, Cuss and his friends scheme to “lift” boxes of grapes from the annual grape train that chugs into town from California.

When his older brothers have to flee due to a mix-up with mob-controlled bootleggers, Cuss and his family, headed by his widowed Croatian mother, struggle to survive. Will he be the first in his family to finish the eighth grade? Or will he have to go to work in the coal mines like his father before him?

Give this book a chance, and you’ll get caught up without realizing it. You’ll laugh, and you’ll cry, and the pages won’t turn fast enough. Described as a novel for young readers, this heart-warming tale will appeal to anyone from age 9 to 99.

ISBN: 0-7636-1325-8

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 813.6 FRANKLI 2003
Available as a digital book, a talking book on cassette and as a Braille edition.
Not available as an eBook

Note:  this book was re-released by Candlewick Press under the title “Cuss” in 2007.