The Keepers Trilogy #1: Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner

My name is Goldie, and the Blessed Guardians have imprisoned my parents and have been hunting me for weeks. I've found refuge in the Museum of Dunt, but I'm sure you won't believe what I'm going to tell you. Its rooms shift around as it gets upset, and that's been happening more and more recently. The caretakers sing to calm the museum, and they're training me to join them. I've learned when to steal, how to pick locks, and three ways to become invisible. However, the Blessed Guardians are becoming more aggressive in the museum, and it's getting more angry. If we don't find a way to stop them, the museum may open the Dirty Gate. The gate holds all the evils in the world (war, famine, and plague), and they may soon be unleashed on mankind.

It takes an imagination to read this book due to the life of the museum. Characters new to it weren't sure where they were going and ended up walking in circles. As a reader, this made it difficult to picture the setting in my mind. I enjoyed Goldie's interactions with Toadspit, an antagonistic boy who was asked to train her. They bickered like brother and sister but eventually became effective allies. The book presented an interesting message about society and young people. Children were chained to their parents until being separated during a formal ceremony, and independence in their young people was taboo. Parents were punished, and children were retrained. This culture was designed to protect the kids, but it actually resulted in adults who lacked courage and couldn't adapt to change. Broo was an engaging character, as he could appear as a cute little dog but could quickly change into a huge, vicious beast. He wasn't able to control the changes, so his reactions to situations were unpredictable. I plan to start the sequel tomorrow.