James Riley (4) (1977–)

James Riley’s, Story Thieves, tells the story of two kids: Bethany, who has the ability to travel in and out of books as she pleases, and Owen, Bethany’s classmate who follows her into a book and is intrigued in her travels. Bethany is more on the serious side and is not very fond of her ability to travel within books. Her father was a fictional character himself and her mother possessed the same ability Bethany does. Bethany is not very appreciative of her power and is known to be a show more stickler. Owen on the other hand, is a kid that is all for adventure. He is so fascinated with Bethany’s abilities and is even a little envious. So envious he goes as far as writing himself into a book so he can be seen by other people. However, Owen goes too far when he tells the fictional characters of his favorite book about Bethany’s abilities. It all goes awry when the fictional characters begin to revolt and attempt to escape from their designated books and wreak havoc on the world of reality. It is up to Bethany and Owen, two opposite personalities, to save the real world and get the fictional characters back to where they belong.
Riley did a great job at contrasting Bethany and Owen in order to make their unity more significant. Riley made Bethany and Owen so different and could have taken many roads with it, but displays an excellent lesson that no matter what personality or interests one has, they can always work together to overcome problems. He took the time to really develop all the characters in this story, even background characters such as Owen’s mother, a simple librarian. As a result of this, the relationships within the story are far more significant and elevate the level of content in this book. Simple children’s books typically just develop the protagonist(s) and the antagonist(s) but nothing more. With all the characters being so developed and all having a part in the story, there is never a dull moment.
The plot of this book is very complex. There is a great deal of story hopping in and out of books that are even more complex than the book itself. Thus being said, it is perhaps a little above its targeted reading level. Bethany being so uptight and not a fan of living on the wild side must overcome her internal conflict of not appreciating her gift and letting herself have more fun and take advantage of her powers. On page 376 Bethany tells Owen, “I’ve been thinking. I might try looking for my father in some Sherlock Holmes books next, since I used up my magic spell on finding Jonathan Porterhouse...And I was also thinking, maybe, um, it might be nice to, I don’t know, have some company. Might be more, you know, fun that way”. However Owen himself must overcome his own conflict of always wanting more and never just being satisfied with his life. On page 377 Riley writes, “[Owen] was ready for a real, boring, completely safe life again”. By setting up the characters and developing them so fully, Riley was able to create subplot(s) with Owen and Bethany’s internal conflicts, not just their external conflicts of battling fictional characters.
The setting in this book took place in multiple books. Particularly the Kiel Gnomenfoot series. There is never any consistent stable setting. The setting shifts anywhere from the books, school, the library, Owen’s bedroom, and the town where Bethany, Owen, and Jonathan Porterhouse live. Part of the reason this book can be misleading is because of the setting shifts can be very blurry and misunderstood by some of the readers when they do not understand or are familiar with the book Bethany and Owen are in.
The theme of this book to me is very coming of age, coming out of your shell, and starting to see the opposite gender in a different way. In very young pubescent ages, children tend to see boys/girls as “gross”. However Bethany, a quiet, shy, serious girl, finds herself looking at Kiel Gnomenfoot as more than just a character. On page 349, totally out of character, Bethany “...[takes] Kiel’s hand, gave him a look, then threw her arms around him and hugged him close”. Bethany later tells the author to rewrite the book so Kiel will stay alive. On page 350 Reilly writes, “Wait...Bethany said that? Even in his dreamlike state, Owen couldn’t believe that”. Bethany acts totally out of character, as one often does when they have a crush on someone. She goes out of her way to ensure Kiel’s safety. show less

“Think about it this way. You thought of yourself as alone for many years, fighting against Dr. Verity. But there were hundreds, even thousands of readers on my world who lived with you. Who felt every victory, every defeat, and want more than anything for you to win. Who cried, actually cried when they thought you died. Those are the people you’re trying to make suffer, the ones who’ve been on your team this entire time.”

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Have you ever wished to meet show more your favourite character from a book or wondered what it would be like to live their life? I bet you have because I know I have. We’re just like Owen, a young boy who finds real life to be incredibly boring and dull. With the help of his librarian mother, Owen constantly loses himself in books but mostly the stories of Kiel Gnomenfoot. It isn’t until he sees one of his classmates - a quiet girl named Bethany - climb out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with chocolate on her fingers that he realizes he might actually get to meet his hero. All he has to do is convince Bethany to take him into one of the Kiel Gnomenfoot books.

The thing is, Bethany has always kept to herself because of what happened during her fourth birthday party - when she jumped all of the guests and her dad into a book but lost her dad on the way back. She’s terrified of what could happen if anyone finds out her secret. But she wants a friend and she thinks Owen just might be that person. Little do either of them know, things are about to get a little too real.


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While reading this book, I had many moments where I couldn’t help but gush about it to my boyfriend and best friend. They’re basically the only people I have to talk about books and even they said that it sounded amazing from how I was describing it. I don’t think I’m going to go as in depth in this review as I did when talking to them about it. So here are some things that I absolutely loved about Story Thieves, in bullet points:

- Bethany. She was my absolute favourite character and it wasn’t just because she was half fictional (although that did play a big part because seriously? How cool is that). Following along as she changed right on the pages as if I was the author writing her story was the best part. She was so cautious and afraid to let anyone in at first. When she finally took Kiel’s advice and embraced the fictional half of herself, it was like watching as a caterpillar turned into a butterfly.

- The twists and turns. I never expected that Owen would have to play out the last book as Kiel or that the Magister was going to end up being bad or that there would be a robot heart to save the day. There are so many more examples I could give as to why this book had me hooked from the very first page. I was pleasantly surprised by this, to be honest, because when I first started reading I was expecting it to be something like “a T-Rex loose in New York” but with a fictional character running rampant in the real world but it took that idea and made it into something amazing.

- The manner in which each chapter jumps back and forth between Bethany and Owen and their respective quests. It left so many scenes hanging and had me excited to find out what would happen next.

- The development of all the characters. Even if it was a negative development (like with the Magister), it was still incredibly to watch the characters change. The main characters - Bethany, Owen and Kiel - changed so much in just 383 pages that it’s almost unbelievable. The trials that the face - and the fact that they almost lose their lives multiple times.


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James Riley definitely doesn’t disappoint with this tale of magic and evil and technology and monsters and real people versus fictional characters. Story Thieves was such a fun read. Although it was intended for a much younger age group, it was fast paced, hilarious and all around incredible. show less

STORY THIEVES by James Riley is an action-packed fantasy that blurs the line between real life and fictional worlds.

What if you could literally dive into a good book? Bethany can. As the child of a real mother and fictional father, she’s able to disappear into any paper book. Bethany has spent years carefully exploring library books for her lost father. When Owen discovers her secret, they begin an adventure that breaks the “fourth wall” mixing the real world with fantasy universes. show more

This clever new fantasy series will be a hit with a wide range of book lovers including those who enjoy fairy tales, magic stories, and science fiction. With many references to popular works of fiction, youth will be drawn into the premise and easily imagine themselves in the shoes of the main characters.

Known for his fractured fairy tales, James Riley provides just the right balance of action and suspense to keep readers engaged in the story. He skillfully weaves together silly subplots, humorous dialogue, and witty references into a storyline perfect for middle grade readers. Youth will easily empathize with the well-developed characters who have dreams and desires that sometimes get in the way of making good choices.

Fans of books like Fablehaven and Inkheart will enjoy the book’s premise, while science fiction and steampunk fans will love the characters from Owen’s favorite fictional series.

Like Bethany and Owen, your children will want to dive into this exciting fantasy adventure.

Edelweiss ARC used for review show less

First things first, this book was hilarious to me. Jack does not want to rescue the princess because apparently she is a snob and she even fell out of the sky wearing a shirt that said punk princess. At the beginning of the story Jack does not want to rescue the princess. He tries to do his hero training on his own, but does not succeed. Throughout the story Jack's grandfather is the one pushing him to help the princess. In the end Jack realized that he should help the princess and help her show more find her grandmother. The moral of this story is that you should not judge a book by its cover and to give everyone a chance. Fractured Fairy Tales are my favorite because they always put a twist on the original one. I would probably read Jack and the beanstalk first and then compare these two books. show less