Dance Of Thieves Today Nikolajeva, Maria. The Rhetoric of Character in Children’s Literature . Scarecrow Press, 2002. (For analysis of dual narration.) Following the grand, prophecy-driven arcs of The Kiss of Deception , Pearson makes a calculated shift in Dance of Thieves . The novel lowers the stakes from continental war to regional stability, exchanging castles for desert camps and armies for gangs. Protagonist Kazi, a former street thief turned Rahtan (elite enforcer for the kingdom of Venda), and Jase Ballenger, the young Patrei (leader) of a powerful outlaw family, are not destined to save the world. Their task is more mundane yet more complex: to prevent a border skirmish. dance of thieves Trites, Roberta Seelinger. Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature . University of Iowa Press, 2000. (For theoretical framing on YA power dynamics.) Nikolajeva, Maria
