“Robbing’s our thing. That’s what we know how to do.”

Maisie is kidnapped on the way to visiting her Grandma. This might sound like the beginning of a traumatic experience for Maisie but it turns out to be just the adventure she’s been looking for during the summer holidays.

But this is no ordinary kidnapping; Maisie is stolen from the family’s car in front of her parents and older sister. And these are no ordinary kidnappers; the Robbersons are a family of bandits.

Wild Karl is the chief bandit and his wife, Hilda, is a reckless but enthusiastic driver and champion cook. They have two children: nine year old Charlie and twelve year old Hellie. Charlie wants to attend school, whereas Hellie embraces the bandit lifestyle completely. Hellie (my favourite character) is good at everything, although repurposing Barbie dolls is one of her specialties. Golden Pete, a friend of the Robbersons, is loyal to Wild Karl.

As a hijacked person, Maisie quickly learns all about the various ways to get the best loot. She also becomes part of the family, using initiative to come up with new ways of doing things. She knows that she’ll need to return home at some point but she’s not ready yet.

“I was their prisoner, the loot from a robbery, and so I tried to look glum. Whenever I remembered.”

Sweets are mentioned so much in this book that it’s possible you’ll get a sugar high just from reading. Kids will love the freedoms enjoyed by this family, who eat what they want when they want, can decide to go swimming on the spur of the moment and don’t have to do anything routine or normal, like work or attend school.

I found Maisie’s response to her kidnapping quite implausible. I can’t imagine a ten year old who wouldn’t be traumatised by being taken from their family by a bunch of strangers. The fact that Maisie didn’t even seem to miss her family and treated her kidnapping like a fun adventure added to this unreality. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn’t supposed to be taking any of this seriously. As a kid I would have simply been along for the ride, no questions asked.

This book, the first in a series, has been translated from Finnish. I want to know how Golden Pete became involved with the Robbersons. I’m assuming this will be mentioned later in the series. I’d like to spend more time with the other bandit clans. I’m interested in reading the next book to see what’s next for Maisie and the Robbersons.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Stripes Publishing, an imprint of Little Tiger Group, for the opportunity to read this book.