The Thief and the Beanstalk by PW Catanese

The interesting thing about PW Catanese is that he writes sequals to the original fairy tales, not retellings. The Thief and the Beanstalk is the sequal, of course, to Jack and the Beanstalk. It tells the story of Nick who breaks into an old rich man’s house who happens to be named Jack. Rumors state that Jack gained all his wealth from a trip up a magical beanstalk when he was Nick’s age. When Jack catches Nick trying to steal some of his hard earned plunder, Jack gives Nick a choice: be turned over to the authorities or climb the beanstalk himself and see if the giantess that had helped Jack is still alive. But when Jack climbs up the stalk he finds new foes awaiting at the top who want revenge on the folk below for Jack’s long ago deeds. Will Nick be a hero? Or will he die in the land above the beanstalk?