Here's a fun game for you to play. Walk up to your local children's librarian. Comment idly on the weather, the news, the local sports team, etc. Banter. Then, when the moment presents itself, slyly drop the name of Leon Garfield. If you're dealing with a librarian that knows their chops and has, in the course of their work, come across this most magnificent author, you're bound you be treated to an extended dialogue regarding the most noble qualities of that fine and outstanding writer. If, on the other hand, you are dealing with an amateur fan of kiddie lit who's knowledge extends only so far as the latest "Magic Treehouse" offering, you may not garner much of a response. Pity them, in such a case, for Leon Garfield is one of those writers that restore your faith in the beauty of children's literature (especially after reading the aforementioned "Magic Treehouse"). If you don't know where to start in the Garfield oeuvre, I recommend the eclectic, "Smith". Winner of a Phoenix Award (given to those great works of children's literature that are gone but not forgotten), the book has been republished relatively recently and is well worth your perusal. If you haven't read this book, you're in for treat.
Picture yourself in Victorian England. Better yet, picture Smith there. He's a twelve-year-old ragamuffin with a penchant for picking ample sized pockets. Living by his wits (and in the care of his two elder seamstress sisters), Smith leads a relatively happy life. That is, until he picks the pocket of a soon-to-be-dead man. With a piece of parchment in his hand that is the sole reason the old man was killed, Smith must learn to read and unravel the paper's mystery. Along the way he'll be hunted, jailed, frozen, and taken under a blind man's wing. Smith runs, jumps, and skips from one desperate situation to another. By the book's finale the reader is so thoroughly engrossed that Smith's adventures seem to burst off the page. You've never rooted for a gamin quite as plucky (or snarky) as Smith. And you probably never will again.
There's one word that pops into the brain when you read "Smith": Dickensian. If you've a kid that you want to lure into the world of Charles Dickens and you've exhausted your "A Christmas Carol" resources, consider "Smith" to be a book in the same vein. The character of Smith himself is almost the anti-Oliver Twist. For where Oliver was a pale saintly little urchin who detested his underworld companions, Smith's more along the lines of the Artful Dodger. A pickpocket by trade, he rubs shoulders with some of the dingiest characters imaginable. Everyone from highwaymen to the upper crust of the debtor's prison. Leon Garfield conjures up a remarkably lifelike England of old. You see the dirt that encrusts little Smith. You smell the rank streets and unwashed masses. His prose is at some times remarkably beautiful. Consider this sentence that describes a lonely graveyard: "Still and silent was the little garden where the dead were planted and bloomed in stone". This is an average lovely Garfieldian statement. At the same time, this book is chock full of fun and wit. What good is it to be a good writer if you can't be funny from time to time? "Smith" is funny and jovial and brimming with good humor, even in its bleakest moments.
Kids today have acquired a newfound taste for somewhat gothic tales of old. The ever popular, "A Series of Unfortunate Events", draws upon a variety of classic Victorian themes. If you've a child that's been hooked on those books, it might be remarkably easy to connect them to "Smith" as well. Also consider pairing it with Joan Aiken's, "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" or Philip Pullman's, "The Ruby In the Smoke" for a classic touch. I should clarify that "Smith" is more than just an Intro to Dickens, or particularly repetitive. It's an original work in and of itself and deserves to be examined in that light. Though it was written roughly 40 years ago, it's still a lively jaunty little tale. There's not a trace of mildew about it. Nothing old or decrepit. No, "Smith" is just the kind of well-written book of fiction that makes you wish every undiscovered classic was this good. A gem.
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Smith Books In Print, Audio Books.