The Thief Lord

This adventurous book written by Cornelia Funke belongs in the genre of Adventure and is 349 pages long. I have picked up this book because the previous book I read was also written by Cornelia Funke and I truly enjoyed it. Therefore I chose this book.

Prosper (12) and Bo (5), two brothers run away from their aunt after the death of their mother. They flee to Venice, where their mother used to tell magical stories about. They meet Scipio- but calls himself as "The Thief Lord" who lives in a unused theatre (The Stella) and earns his living by- of course, stealing from the wealthiest homes and sells them to a greedy shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa (Redbeard) . Scipio is 13, a very generous boy. He has a few companions: Caterina or"Hornet", Riccio & Mosca. Hornet is a writer, she is always reading and writing. Riccio, on the other hand, is scruffy- his hair sticking out from everywhere! He loves sweets and that explains his bad teeth. Mosca is a tall and muscular boy from Africa, he loves water and boats. Prosper and Bo's aunt, Esther, hires a detective called Victor to find the brothers. Victor finds the boys and discovers that they live in The Stella. He also tells the boys about Scipio's true identity- he is the son of Dottore Massimo- that means that Scipio was selling things from his own home!!! Victor say that if they do not steal the wing, he will not reveal their hiding place. They set off the steal the wing and meet Scipio- Ida, the owner of the house, finds out who they are and she tells them the story about the wing. The wing came from a magical merry-go-round that had the ability to change a person's age. She made a deal with everyone (apart from Hornet and Bo) that she will give them the wing if they allow her to join and to see the merry-go-round. When they returned, the 2 left a note saying that there were police at the door. They suspect Victor who swears that he was innocent. Ida and Victor find Hornet at the orphanage and take them out. The next morning, Bo was found at the stella. Scipio and Prosper meet Conte and Morosina who are young and forgot that the merry-go-round works. Scipio rides and becoming a goodlooking man- taking after his father. Redbeard also wishes to become an adult but turns out to be 5. Ida immediately understands the situation when she finds them. Scipio becomes Victor's assisstant and Esther adopts Redbeard who was found stealing her belongings and ends up in a boarding school where he forces everyone to call him "The Thief Lord".

I found this story having too many things going on and I wish it was slightly more simple. I also felt like the plot was too detailed. Apart from that, the plot was great, very imaginative (yet again) to think of the merry-go-round and the characters. The story fits soo well.