“By Their Fruits, Ye Shall Know Them…”
Paul C. Lampley, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs February 5, 2013
Dr. Margaret Delashmit Chair, Division of Humanities
Thief! by Margaret V. Delashmit When thirteen-year-old Claire McGlaughlin’s parents leave for Kenya as medical missionaries, she is sent to live with her grandmother in Holly Springs, Mississippi— where she thinks nothing interesting ever happens. Soon after her arrival, a rash of burglaries and rumors of a cold case murder send this budding writer into investigative mode. With the help of her new pal, Ralphie, Claire sets out to solve the mystery. Along the way, Claire and Ralphie make the acquaintance of vicious dogs, a shotgun-waving crazy lady, and an angry sheriff. What’s more, an unknown Mary Cassatt painting and a dog with mysterious powers may be the keys to unraveling a mystery that has haunted the town of Holly Springs for much too long. This novel explores a society’s tendency to exclude outsiders and the hurt the outsider can suffer as a result. In a parallel plot, a young Kenyan working with Claire’s parents in the European hospital in Kenya is accused of theft simply because he, too, is an outsider. By the end of the book, Claire begins to realize who she is and what she wants to do with her life. “This inspiring novel of teenage angst set in a small Southern town captures the emotions of doubt, rejection, and love. It provides a convincing demonstration of the resilience of teenagers who are so often dismissed by adults who cannot see beyond their myopic preconceptions of adolescence (and have forgotten their own teenage years).’’ --B.C. Crawford, Educator, Oxford, Mississippi