The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

Recommended for ????
3/5 Stars
3/5 on the Happiness Meter
Genre: Historical Fiction

The Thieves of Ostia tells the story of Flavia, the bright and inquisitive daughter of a fairly well-off merchant (I think he's a merchant). In solving a mystery Flavia finds herself trapped in a tree surrounded by wild dogs. She is saved by her next door neighbor, a boy named Jonathan. Soon the two become friends. For her birthday Flavia buys a slave girl, Nubia, as she feels sorry for her. Flavia buys Nubia intending to grant her freedom after she becomes acclimatized to Rome. A grusome mystery soon presents itself to the three children and, with the help of a beggar boy named Lupis, they set out to solve it. Of course they get into all sorts of scrapes but they always manage to get out of them as they are resourceful and knowledgable.

Perhaps giving this book 3 out of 5 stars is unfair. It certainly has literary merit and seems to be well researched. The author has no qualms about portraying the Roman world in a probable manner. I suppose what bothers me about the book may not even be the fault of the book itself. I simply don't know to whom I would recommend it. Amazon suggests 9-12 years old would be an appropriate audience and that might be. My reservations lie in how distressing some of the events are in this book: dogs with heads chopped off, a girl who dies from rabies (and the description of her death), and mentions of the slave trade, particularly the mention of the child slave trade. I just don't know what nine year old would be prepared for such a thing, even some twelve year olds would not be. It's clearly intended to be for children but I know I would hesitate to put it in the hands of anyone under 12. However, I doubt many teenagers would find the story of interest (this too may be unfair and inaccurate). I suspect this due to how well everyone seems to get along. Flavia treats Nubia as an equal, Jonathan, a Jewish boy, becomes good friends with Flavia and Nubia even though the Jewish religion was anything but accepted in the Roman world (to my understanding). In addition to this, all three children befriend a beggar boy. Maybe I just don't know enough about Roman history but these friendships seem quite improbable to me. I do, however, like the general plot. The author introduces to the reader to many interesting concepts and facts such as the layout of a Roman houes and town, the slave trade, and social hiararchies. I suppose I should really just suspend my judgment on this book and see what other younger readers have to say about it.