My fabulous editor at Random House, Jim Thomas, who always knows how to make my words better, as well as Random House editorial assistant Chelsea Eberly, publicist Meg O’Brien, and designer Heather Palisi, all of whom have helped to get those words out into the world.
My also-fabulous agent, Nancy Gallt, and her assistant, Marietta Zacker.
With so many people doing so much to help me, any mistakes that remain must be my own. Thank you all. I couldn’t have written this one without you.
Janni Lee Simner
first became fascinated with the Icelandic sagas—and with the woman whose uncle said she had the eyes of a thief—during a visit to Iceland. Standing in the rift valley of Thingvellir with a battered copy of Njal’s Saga in her backpack, she realized that the characters she was reading about had walked the same ground. As the wind blew around her, she sat down and wrote the opening scene of Thief Eyes.
Janni lives more than four thousand miles from Iceland in Tucson, Arizona, where the hot, dry desert weather is about as unlike Iceland as one can get and still be on the same planet. She’s also the author of four books for younger readers and more than thirty short stories. Janni is currently working on the sequel to her first young adult novel, Bones of Faerie.
To learn more about Janni, visit her Web site at www.simner.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Janni Lee Simner
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Simner, Janni Lee.
Thief eyes / Janni Lee Simner. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Haley’s mother disappeared while on a trip to Iceland, and a year later, when her father takes her there to find out what happened, Haley finds herself deeply involved in an ancient saga that began with her Nordic ancestors.
eISBN: 978-0-375-89682-8
[1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Folklore—Iceland—Fiction. 3. Missing persons—Fiction. 4. Iceland—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S594Th 2010
[Fic]—dc22
2009018166
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.0
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright