Dodger is a street urchin in what is essentially 19th century London who survives by combing the sewers for what is left behind. He's very good at his chosen career and he's good at escaping notice for any of his less-than-legal activities. When he rescues a girl being kidnapped one dark and stormy night, Dodger must figure out why men want this girl dead and how to protect her with the help of none other than Charles Dickens. Dodger runs into a lot of colorful characters (like Sweeney Todd!) along the way and his adventures made me not want to put the book down! Dodger is clever, funny and an expert at surviving and he's one of those characters that is so very easy to fall in love with. Pratchett does an excellent job of really making you feel like you're living on the streets with Dodger, with all the understanding of the poverty and hardships of life that people faced in that time if you didn't have much money but with a dark sense of humor that you can't help but enjoy. It was a fun, fast-paced read but there is a lot of Victorian slang and enough historical information that it probably won't have mass teen appeal. But if you enjoy historical fiction and humor, I would definitely recommend it!