The Thief Lord
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About the Author

Cornelia Funke is a critically acclaimed, award-winning, international best-selling author. She lives in Los Angeles, USA with her husband, two children and a dog called Loonie!

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Wacky characters bring energy to this translation of an entertaining German novel about thieving children, a disguise-obsessed detective and a magical merry-go-round. After their mother dies, 12-year-old Prosper and his brother, Bo, five, flee from Hamburg to Venice (an awful aunt plans to adopt only Bo). They live in an abandoned movie theater with several other street children under the care of the Thief Lord, a cocky youth who claims to rob "the city's most elegant houses." A mysterious man hires the Thief Lord to steal a wooden wing, which the kids later learn has broken off a long-lost merry-go-round said to make "adults out of children and children out of adults," but the plan alters when Victor, the detective Aunt Esther hired to track the brothers, discovers their camp and reveals that the Thief Lord is actually from a wealthy family. There are a lot of story lines to follow, and the pacing is sometimes off (readers may feel that Funke spends too little time on what happens when the children find the carousel, and too much on the ruse they pull on Prosper's aunt). But between kindhearted Victor and his collection of fake beards, the Thief Lord in his mask and high-heeled boots, and a rascally street kid who loves to steal, Prosper's new world abounds with colorful characters. The Venetian setting is ripe for mystery and the city's alleys and canals ratchet up the suspense in the chase scenes. Ages 9-12. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Gr 6-8-Actor Simon Jones does an excellent job of giving voice to Cornelia Funke's mystery adventure tale which has won several European children's literature awards (Scholastic, 2002). This Dickensian story begins in modern times in detective Victor Getz's office in Venice as he is asked to search for Esther Hartlieb's orphaned nephews, Prosper and Bo, who ran away when they learned Esther was going to adopt five-year-old Bo but send Prosper away to a boarding school. The boys came to Venice because their dead mother had often lovingly described the beauties of the city to them. They wind up in an abandoned movie theater with other runaways who are working for Scipio, a young boy they call the "Thief Lord." The evil Barbarossa who accepts their stolen goods asks them to steal a special broken wooden wing that came from an old, magical merry-go-round which can transport riders backward or forward in time. The plot is full of twists and surprises, and the characters are vividly described. The excellent descriptive passages make it easy to picture the characters and setting. Loyalty, honor among thieves, and whether it's better to be an adult or a child are some of the themes explored in this fast-paced, spellbinding tale.-Diane Balodis, Alden Intermediate School, NY Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

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