help!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Tomorrow I'm giving a booktalk for The Thief to 350 sixth graders. I have two minutes, maybe three, to get them all dying to read the book. I'm not a procrastinator; I've been trying. 

It's not supposed to be a summary of the book, more like a movie trailer. It's got to grab them immediately, and leave them wanting to know more about what happens.

I could start it like this: (reads from the book) "I didn't know how long I'd been in the king's prison." Gen has been in prison for so many months he doesn't even know how much time has passed. What did he do to end up chained by the wrists and ankles to his stone bunk? Well, first he stole the king's seal. Then he bragged about it while drinking in a wineshop. "I can steal anything," he'd boasted.

Then what?

They are studying Ancient Greece and Rome right now, so I should mention the setting but make sure they understand it's a fantasy world. It has to end with a bang. 

Ideas? Anyone?